ADA, Okla. – For the first time since the 2019 season, the Southern Nazarene Baseball team (5-20, 4-16 GAC) won two Great American Conference matchups in a row with 9-5 and 6-5 wins over the East Central University Tigers (3-22, 3-17 GAC) on Friday afternoon in Ada.
Today's wins gave the Storm their fourth conference win of the season, the most since 2018, excluding last season because it was cut short due to COVID-19.
Game 1
Things got off to slow start for the Crimson Storm in game one as ECU built a 5-0 lead by the end of the 5
th inning. SNU finally woke up at the top of the 6
th when
Jarrett Phillips singled to shortstop, sending
Colby Entwistle across home plate for the first Southern Nazarene score.
After shutting out the Tigers at the bottom of the 6
th, SNU exploded for four in next inning, tying the game at 5-5. This run was sparked by a
Clay Lockett double that scored
Cole Embrey and
Landon Walker. Lockett worked his way around the diamond to score the fourth run off an
EJ Taylor single while
Jarrett Phillips swung his bat to push Taylor across.
Then SNU closed the door on ECU as they tacked on four additional runs in the final inning. Lockett was the first to score off a Phillips walk then Taylor and Entwistle made their way around. Finally,
Jarrett Phillips cemented the win with a score off an
Eric Gutierrez single up the middle.
Southern Nazarene's leading slugger,
Jarrett Phillips, continued his stellar season as he led SNU going 2-for-4 from the plate, three RBIs, one score.
Clay Lockett got in on the action as he turned in a 2-for-5 performance with two RBIs and two scored runs.
Austin Glock also collected two RBIs off his only hit of the afternoon.
Other notables were
EJ Taylor and
Eric Gutierrez who each collected an RBI. Taylor went 2-for-4 at the plate as he scored a of couple runs too.
On the mound,
Brett Rexroad clocked the most time as he pitched through 5.2 innings, struck out four, and allowed two runs.
Elijah Brady threw for 2.2 innings on his way to being credited with today's win, bringing his season record to 1-1. Others who took the mound were
Kasen Jackson and
Adrian Flores while Jackson allowed three runs.
Game 2
The Crimson Storm rode their momentum in Game 2 as they popped off the 1
st inning with two runs, started by a
Colby Entwistle score off a passed ball.
Austin Glock then sacrificed himself with a pop fly into centerfield to bring
EJ Taylor home. Then in the 3
rd,
Jarrett Phillips scored, bringing the tally to 3-0.
ECU finally answered SNU's run with a score of their own at the bottom of 4
th, but the Crimson Storm woke up again to put three more runs up in the 3
rd. A
Jarrett Phillips three-run moon shot over the left-field wall helped solidify the Storm's win before having to hold-off a four-run 7
th inning from the Tigers.
At the plate,
Jarrett Phillips again led SNU as he went 2-for-4, hit a homerun, collected three RBIs and scored twice.
Austin Glock and
Tyler Broyles were the next most efficient as each went 2-for-3 while Glock managed an RBI. Other notables were
Eric Gutierrez who registered an RBI and
EJ Taylor who went 1-for-3 three and scored twice.
Triston Graves manned the bumped through 6.0 innings, throwing four out, and allowing four runs. Graves was credited with today's win, bringing his season record to 2-5.
Elijah Brady then appeared for a short while before
Payne Maga came in to save the ball game as he faced three and threw one strikeout.
Southern Nazarene will look to close out their series against East Central tomorrow as they turnaround for one more game in Ada. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m.
