BETHANY — Pitching was a major focus point for Southern Nazarene entering the 2019 season and boy did they get a great outing from their ace on Friday afternoon in a 4-1 win over Southwest Baptist.
 
Kicking off the new year on their home field, the Crimson Storm (1-0) have to like what they saw from senior pitcher Jefferson Harris in the season opener. The right-hander tossed seven complete innings and allowed just five hits and one unearned run, while also dishing out five strikeouts in the process.
 
SNU finished with five hits in the game, led by sophomore Cole Lee who went 2-for-4 at the plate with a couple of singles and a run scored. Also making their first starts for the Storm were Jack Campbell and Connor Dayton who each tallied big hits as Campbell went 1-for-4 with two RBI's, while Dayton also went 1-for-4 with one RBI.
 
Senior Garrett Perez also recorded a hit as well and had a very impressive run scored by stealing home. Jackson Berry and Tyler Thompson both provided an inning in relief as Berry walked away with the save for Southern Nazarene.
 
Both teams had to shake some rust off in the opening inning as Southern Nazarene recorded one error, while Southwest Baptist tallied two. After both clubs settled in on the defensive end, it became a pitching battle as Harris dueled one of the top pitchers in the MIAA a season ago in Dalton Morrow.
 
Morrow finished the game with seven strikeouts for the Bearcats, but SNU got the last laugh as their bats started to come alive in the fourth inning. Emilio Escobedo walked which led to a Dayton double to bring him in from first base to give the Storm a 1-0 lead.
 
Later in the fifth, Perez walked and Lee's single to left moved him over to third resulting in runners on the corners for SNU. Head coach Robert Lee pulled a fast one on the left-handed Morrow and signaled a double steal. With his back turned to Perez on third, he had no idea the Storm's all-time leading base stealer was darting towards home resulting in Southern Nazarene's second run of the game to make it 2-0.
 
Southwest Baptist answered in the top of the seventh with one run, and just when it looked like Harris was running out of gas on the mound, he got the Storm out of a tight jam. SNU added two more runs in the bottom of the eighth courtesy of a double from Campbell that scored Lee and Shelby Reese.
 
Tyler Thompson came in for the final half-inning in the ninth to shut the door on the Bearcats and start the Storm off on the right foot with their first victory of the season.
 
Southern Nazarene will be back at Feland Field tomorrow for a doubleheader with Southwest Baptist with the first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m.