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| Casen Novak went 3-for-6 at the plate, saving his best for last with a walk-off RBI single in the 11th inning as No. 23 Concordia Texas opened the seasonwith a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Methodiston Friday in the first day of the Jackie Greer/Rusty Moore Collegiate Classic at Air Hog Stadium. Concordia-Texas athletics photo |
On a Friday that saw multiple season openers across the south and southwest, both pitching and offense were on display. Emory had both humming in a 8-0 win over Virginia Wesleyan and last year's runner-up Birmingham-Southern won a squeaker late.
Five Eagles combined for the four-hit shutout as Emory began the 2020 season with an 8-0 victory over Virginia Wesleyan Friday afternoon at Chappell Park in Atlanta. Senior Richard Brereton went 5.1 scoreless frames as he recorded the win in his season debut. Brereton scattered three hits, three walks, two hit-by-pitches and struck five. At the dish, the Darien, CT native tallied a game-high three hits, going 3-for-4, driving in two runs and drawing a base-on-balls.
No. 4 Birmingham-Southern earned a win in its first game of the season at Piedmont. A three-run first inning propelled the Panthers to the 6-5 win to open the 2020 campaign. Dawson Pfost opened up the scoring with a two-run single that scored Dawson Pfost and Cole Steadman . Drew Love the third run of the inning when he scored on a Piedmont error. Birmingham-Southern added its remaining three runs with runs in the sixth, eighth and ninth innings. Senior Andy Hammond got the start for the Panthers, tossing five and a third innings, allowing two earned runs off eight hits and striking out seven. It would be Robbie Lively, however, that would earn the win, and Jack Stephens recorded his first save of the year.
Redlands headed to Tucson, Arizona for the annual Cactus Classic this weekend. The team opened the tournament with a dominating 13-7 win over Sul Ross State this morning before dropping an 8-9 heartbreaker in the ninth to Linfield. The Bulldogs scored early and often in the opening game against Sul Ross. Brian Cromwell opened the Linfield Wildcats season with a bang, hitting a walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th to secure the 9-8 victory against the Redlands Bulldogs.
George Fox opened its 2020 season, with a game against Hardin-Simmons at the Rusty Greer-Jackie Moore Classic hosted by HSU. The Bruins trailed early before erupting in the ninth for a 5-1 win in nine innings. The Bruins saved their best for the final frame as Sam Swenson chopped a single down the third base line to lead off. Marc Audet followed with a single through the left side, Leon Johnson III added a pinch-hit single, and then all three runners came around to score on a bases-clearing triple hit by Miller. An RBI single from Jared Gee through the hole at shortstop plated Miller for the 5-1 lead.
Howard Payne exploded for 24 runs in its 2020 season opening doubleheader at the University of St. Thomas. Howard Payne scored 24 runs on 28 hits while the Yellow Jacket pitching staff held St. Thomas to just seven runs on 14 hits in the season opening doubleheader. Nolyn Box led the Jackets in game one going 4-for-5 at the plate scoring two runs with one RBI. Jonathan McKay was 3-for-4 with Carson Wert and David Paleo each adding two hits. Box again led the Jackets in the nightcap going 3-for-5 with a double and three RBI. McKay and Jared Pollock each added two hits.
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| The Mountaineers opened their 2020 season with thrilling 12-10 victory of the McMurry on Friday afternoon. Schreiner athletics photo |
Southern Virginia won its season-opener 10-8 against Greensboro Friday night at BB&T Point Park. Trailing 7-4 going to the top half of the seventh inning, the Knights (1-0) scored five runs taking its first lead of the game 9-7 and held on for its first win of the 2020 season.
LeTourneau opened the season with a 19-4 win at Millsaps. The YellowJackets pounded 19 hits, and scored in seven of the nine innings. Bryce Brueggemeyer and Noah Mahoney each homered. Brueggemeyer was 4-for-6 with a double and six RBI. Will Bradshaw was 4-for-6 with a double, stolen base and five RBI. Austin Smith was 3-for-5 with a double and two RBI. Mahoney went 2-for-7. Kameron Lindsey went 2-for-5. Chaz Jackson was 2-for-5 with an RBI.
The Whitworth opener looked a lot like 2019 as the Pirates defeated Pomona-Pitzer 3-1. Much like last season, when the Bucs finished 27-15 and won the Northwest Conference, Matthew Young provided a strong start on the mound, Brett Thomas threw three dominating innings of relief and Whitworth got key RBIs to earn the victory.
Texas Lutheran Bulldogs opened the 2020 season with an impressive 12-2 win Friday night over Hendrix. Playing in the Rusty Greer / Jackie Moore Classic at AirHogs Stadium, TLU received 6-2/3 strong innings of work from left-hander Matthew Hickey before blowing open the game in the seventh and eighth innings by scoring a combined 10 runs. Hickey (1-0) struck out nine in his first start of 2020 and allowed just one earned run. He allowed just one hit and worked around five walks.
In a game that was called after six innings due to a sprinkler delay that left the field in an unplayable condition, Troy Frazier's complete game shutout lifted Cal Lutheran over Whitman as the Kingsmen improve to 2-0 after picking up the 2-0 victory. Frazier was excellent in his first start of the season, going six innings without allowing a run and only surrendering two hits on the night. The senior tallied a career-high 11 strikeouts to keep the Blues' bats quiet for the entirety of the contest. Harrison Dunkel earned the start at shortstop and was the only Kingsmen to record a multi-hit night, going 2-for-2 with a run scored. Austin Carrillo was productive at the plate with a 1-for-1 day while drawing two walks. Joseph Scalzo also picked up a knock and also drew a walk in his three plate appearances.
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Sophomore Calvin Koo celebrates with his teammates
after hitting his first-career home run, helping CMS defeat Pacific 4-1 at Arce Field. Occidental athletics photo by Daniel Addison |
The top of the Loggers' lineup did damage as the Puget Sound won its 2020 season-opener, 8-6, at Whittier. The Loggers' (1-0) one-through-three hitters combined to go 6-for-13 at the dish with five runs scored. Kyle Strash and Hunter Riley both went 2-for-5, and Mason Quinlan finished the game 2-for-3. Matthew Hicks earned the win by throwing 2.1 shutout innings in relief of starter Davis Miller.
The Leopards' season got off to hot start on Friday. La Verne finished three triples and a home run and totaled 13 hits on the way to an 11-8 win over Lewis & Clark in its season opener. Matthew Dodd had an outstanding debut for the Leopards hitting a back-to-back RBI triples in his first two collegiates at bats. The freshman finished the game with three hits and two runs. Patrick Keller added a pair of hits including a triple, drove in a pair of runs, stole two of bases, and led the Leopards with three runs. Tanner Siffert finished with two RBIs, two hits, and one run.
Earlier in the week:
Cal Lutheran recieved a dominant start from Alexander Rivas and some timely offense led Cal Lutheran to a 3-0 win over Texas-Dallas in their season opener, Thursday afternoon at the Kino Sports Complex in Tucson, Ariz. In the first of four contests to be played in Arizona, Rivas was nearly unhittable in his first start of the year. The sophomore earned the win after throwing six innings of shutout baseball, striking out six batters while scattering five hits.
Ben Coker tossed four innings allowing no earned runs, as the Berry won its season opener over Maryville 2-1 on Tuesday afternoon. Coker picked up his first victory of the season, while freshman Mason Carnes handled the ninth inning earning his first career save.