ADA, Okla. — Southern Nazarene closed out the series Monday against East Central with a 19-10 win before dropping a 9-6 contest in six innings.
The Crimson Storm scored 19 runs in the first game of the doubleheader, which is the most for SNU in a game since 2010. They tallied a season-high 20 hits in the game, while the Tigers found their bats at the dish as well, totaling 12 in the game.
Zach Birkle earned his first win of the season on the mound for Southern Nazarene as he had a very impressive showing in relief. He struck out seven batters and allowed just one hit in 3.0 innings.
Jackson Berry got the start for SNU, as he tossed 3.2 innings and allowed eight hits, seven runs, and struck out three.
Emilio Escobedo had his best performance of his career at the plate for SNU. The sophomore went 4-for-5 with a career-high seven RBI's, four runs scored, one double, and one grand slam. Escobedo was one of three batters to record four or more hits and one of five to tally multiple hits.
Cobi Ceron and
Shelby Reese each slapped four hits in the game as Ceron finished 4-for-6 with two RBIs and two runs scored, while Reese went 4-for-5 with one RBI and four runs scored.
Tanner Ladon also had a solid day at the dish as the freshman finished 3-for-6 with a career-high three RBIs as well.
Sophomore
Cole Lee finished 2-for-6 with four runs scored, while
Connor Dayton went 1-for-4 with two runs scored.
Jefferson Harris and
A.J. Nelums each recorded a hit in the game as well.
The first game had all the makings of a barn-burner as there were seven total runs scored in the opening inning. SNU took an early 4-0 lead when Escobedo launched a grand slam to left field. The Tigers came right back in the bottom of the first and scored three runs to cut it to 4-3.
After a scoreless 2
nd inning from both sides, SNU tacked on two runs in the top of the third when Reese scored on a wild pitch, and Ceron's single drove in Escobedo to make it 6-3. ECU scored one in the bottom of the third to cut it to 6-4, before Perez scored on a balk to give SNU a 7-4 lead.
East Central's bats exploded in the bottom of the fourth, as they scored six runs to take a 10-7 lead. After that, it was all SNU as they tacked on two runs in the fifth, three in the sixth, six in the seventh, and one in the eighth. The Storm held off the Tigers down the stretch by strong pitching from Birkle to win their first GAC game of the year.
SNU got off to a great start in game two, jumping out to a 4-0 lead behind RBIs from Dayton and Ceron as well as a two-RBI double from Harris. However, East Central got three back in the first and four in the second to move ahead 7-5 and never looked back, eventually winning the game and the series, 9-6.
Due to darkness, the game that was scheduled for seven innings was shortened to six.
Ryan Mills got the start in the final game of the series and was saddled with the loss.
Noah Serrano and
Tyler Thompson each saw action out of the bullpen.
Lee finished 3-for-4 in the game with two runs scored while Dayton and Harris each drove in a pair of RBI. Ceron was 2-fo-3 with a RBI while
Garrett Perez was 2-for-4 with a run scored.
Tanner Ladon had a home run in the contest.
SNU goes to 4-8 on the year and 1-4 in GAC play. They will look to rebound on Friday as they return to Feland Field to welcome in Ouachita Baptist for a three game series. First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 p.m.
