BETHANY, Okla. — Opening the 2023 season, Southern Nazarene hosted Newman on Feland Field where they fell to the Jets in the first game of the three-game series, 14-7.
The Storm (0-1, 0-0 GAC) took advantage of hot hitting in the third and fourth innings, getting up to a 5-2 advantage over Newman. The fifth inning was all Newman as the Jets (1-0, 0-0 MIAA) exploded for a nine-run fifth inning which would carry them through the rest of the ballgame. SNU had just two less hits than Newman, but four errors proved costly to the Storm with Newman defeating them by a total of seven runs.
Newman got on the board first in the bottom second after cranking one to center field that would send a runner home for the 1-0 start.
The Storm held up on defense in the top of the third, getting three early outs to help wake up the offense. Newman attempted a double-play, but a poor throw by the Jets sent Colby Entwistle all the way to second. DJ Van Atten tacked on two scores for SNU with a bomb over to left field, putting SNU up 2-1.
The Jets answered in the top of the fourth, putting up a sacrifice fly with with two outs to send one home for the 2-2 tie.
After a Peyton Vinyard single to right field gave SNU bases loaded, Newman erred on another double-play attempt, allowing Carson Kinnaird and Tanner Bear across home plate. The two RBIs put SNU up 4-2 in the bottom of the fourth. Things continued to go SNU's way at bat as Dax Edmonds' single would plate Tyler Broyles, extending their lead to 5-2.
Newman took advantage of an SNU throwing error and a single up the middle to plate two Jets for the 5-4 trail. In the following at-bat with no outs, Newman walked home a run to tie the game at 5-5. Causing even more issues for the Storm, Newman hit a grand slam, reclaiming the lead now at 9-5.
Offense continued to come easy for the Jets with the bases loaded as an infield hit followed by a fielder's choice would earn two more runs, putting Newman up 11-5 at the end of the fifth ending.
Still unable to get much going on the offensive end, Newman continued to to step on the gas, getting a couple of hits in the sixth to push their lead to 14-5.
Action stalled in the seventh inning, but SNU picked it back up in the 8th as Kinnaird blasted one to left-center for the solo homer. Cole Embrey excited the crowd again with a double to center field that sent Vinyard across home, cutting the score to 14-7. That was the last of the scoring that inning as SNU reached its third out with bases loaded.
In the ninth, SNU had a chance tack on a few more runs with bases loaded. Already with two outs under their belt, they reached the third to conclude the game, handing Newman the Game 1 win of the season-opening series.
Southern Nazarene will conclude the series on Saturday, February 4th with a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m.
