February 20, 2017

Vikings win opener, Bishops win big

More news about: Augustana | North Carolina Wesleyan | Occidental | Whitworth

Senior Kyle McGinley threw six shutout innings Monday, allowing just one hit and fanning nine as Augustana defeated Brandeis 2-1 in Auburndale, Florida.
 Augustana athletics photo
Devon DeRaad had a big day at the plate, Jamie Cooper homered and Occidental's pitching was excellent in a 7-1 win over Bates at Anderson Field on Monday. DeRaad, a First Team All-American last season, doubled in Graham Pimm to start a three-run bottom of the first inning. The Tigers' then blew the game open in the sixth with DeRaad singling in Pimm, followed by Cooper's two-run shot over the center field wall. Cade Denyer got the start for Oxy, giving up one earned run in thee innings pitched, with five strikeouts. Oxy's bullpen help strong for the remainder of the game. Josh Cohen got the win with three strikeouts in two hit-less innings, and Matthew Geiger, Dean Abramson, Will Martel and Michael Netzel all made appearances. The Tigers' staff only allowed three hits.

Three Augustana pitchers surrendered just three hits an no earned runs Monday and junior John Moraski delivered a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth as the Vikings opened the 2017 season with a 2-1 win over Brandeis at Lake Myrtle Park Field. The same teams are back at it on Tuesday.

Whitworth rallied from an early 3-0 deficit and rolled past Redlands 12-3 in a non-conference game, completing a 4-0 trip to Southern California. The Pirates pounded out a season-high 17 hits, led by shortstop Joel Condreay who went 5-6 with two RBIs and two runs scored.  Ryan Bird and Nicholas Nerud drove in three runs apiece. Brady Simmelink threw five innings of one-hit, shutout relief to earn his first pitching victory of the season.  He struck out three batters and walked only one in relief of starter Tim Bever, who gave up three runs on four hits in 4.0 innings.

Anderson had its best offensive game of the season, but an early 4-0 deficit proved too much to overcome in an 8-4 loss to Taylor at Winterholter Field in Upland, Ind., Monday. Down 4-0 in the first, Anderson got fourth-inning home runs from Wyatt Schebler and Nick Butcher to cut it to 4-3, but the Trojans added one in the fourth and three in the fifth.  The Ravens had eight hits. Schebler, Butcher and Wil Davis each had two. Branton Sanders and Austin Cain had the other Anderson hits.

N.C. Wesleyan christened its new John Alden Scoreboard at Bauer Field by securing a series sweep of the University of Maine-Presque Isle. The state-of-the-art scoreboard came to life during the Bishops' 20-1 victory over the Owls. The first run on the new scoreboard went to the Bishops as senior Tony Sanchez plated Logan Andrews with an RBI-groundout in the first inning. Wesleyan went on to plate 18 runs over the next three innings, highlighted by homeruns by Sanchez and Andrews. Sophomore Nate Gardner picked up the win on the mound, tossing five shutout innings and striking out four.

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