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| Opening Day for Rhodes College saw the preseason ranked #24 Lynx traveling south to Shreveport, Louisiana to kick off the new season against the LaGrange College Panthers. The Lynx offense got off to a hot start as they batted around in both the 2nd and the 4th innings. After the Panthers answered with 3 runs of their own in the top of the 4th, the Lynx offense went back to work as Ben Burkhart, Corbin Kinder, and Brandon Trichell each crossed the plate in the bottom of the 4th. In the bottom of the 6th, Ben Daniel stroked a single into the right center field gap that allowed Cooper Kuriger to score and extend the Rhodes lead to 11-5. This margin would prove much too large for the Panther efforts, and the Lynx would claim the victory on opening day by a final score of 12-5. The Lynx ace, Zac Sohosky, received the opening day start and delivered a performance spanning 6.0 innings and consisting of 5 earned runs, 6 strikeouts, and 0 walks. The left handed phenom begins his Junior campaign with a win, moving his record to 1-0. Rhodes athletics photo |
Emory opened the era of head coach Bobby Perez with a 12-11 comeback win over the Berry Vikings. The Eagles scored four runs in the eighth to capture the home win as the Vikings were unable to answer in the ninth. The Eagles erased deficits of 7-0 and 11-8 to give Perez his first official win as the head of the program. Sophomore Jake Lawson and senior Blake Dinçman combined to drive in six runs and senior Matthew Sicoli provided the theatrics with a go-ahead, two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to cap off the Emory rally. Two runs in the first and five runs in the second gave the appearance of a rude start to the season as the Vikings quickly grew to a 7-0 edge. However, the Eagles responded with a flurry in the third inning with a seven-run frame to even the score at 7-7. Senior Jack Halloran put the Eagles ahead the following inning as he brought home Lawson with a single through the left side. Unfortunately, Berry used the middle innings to regain the lead as the visitors scored once in the fifth and sixth and twice in the seventh to take an 11-8 lead. Senior Bennett Speicher closed the door on the win as he recorded a 1-2-3 ninth inning with three ground outs for his first save. Sophomore Nick Stellabotte recorded the win as he pitched a perfect eighth frame in his Eagles debut.
McMurry got a big 8-0 win over Huntingdon in their season opener at the Gents Classic to start the year off 1-0. The early going of the contest saw the two teams struggling to score runs. McMurry did plate across a few runs but only led by 3 going into the 7th inning before they scored 5 big runs to take complete control of the game at 8-0 after 7 frames. Strong pitching by the War Hawks continued all the way through to the end as they completed the shutout to defeat Huntingdon 8-0 to move to 1-0. Hunter Poe got the win with 5 innings pitched, 3 strikeouts, & no runs allowed. Cooper Marshall helped in the combined shutout with 4 innings pitched, 3 strikeouts, & no runs allowed.
Whittier College team kick-started their 2025 season with a huge conference win over the University of Redlands Bulldogs. The offense came out swinging, knocking 17 hits on their way to an 11-9 victory. Whittier was able to strike first in this game, then in the top of the fifth Whittier was able to extend their lead. The Bulldogs answered back though scoring 8 runs on 6 hits in the bottom of the fifth inning. Whittier now was facing their first up-hill battle of the season, a 8-3 deficit. As the ninth inning rolled around Whittier was still trailing 8-7, but were looking for one final push. Once again Plaskett was able to reach base to start the inning. This time on an error, but this proved to be the boost the Poets needed. Watanabe followed it up with a double and then Andrew Griffin brought in the tying run with a single of his own. In a tie ballgame with runners on first and third, Gama Martinez stepped to the plate. The Freshman laced a ball past the diving third basemen into left field to secure his first collegiate hit, but also gave the Poets a 9-8 advantage. Battle added some insurance runs later in the inning with a huge double of his own to extend Whittier lead to 11-8 going into the bottom of the ninth. In the last half inning of the game Coach Rizzo handed the ball to Owen Moore (Austin, Texas, St Michael's Catholic Academy), who was able to keep the Bulldog's bats at bay. Moore secured his first save of the season, while also locking down Whittier's first victory of the year.
Caltech opened its season Friday afternoon with a 4-1 victory over California Miramar University. The Beavers welcomed the Fighting Falcons to North Field in their season opener and with a combination of early slugging and strong pitching were able to win the game. Caltech ambushed the Fighting Falcons early on in the first inning. In the third inning, the Beavers would strike again and Levi Alderete was a centerpiece for more high-powered offense. Right fielder Thorsen Kristufek continued the hot streak of hitting as he would double as well, scoring both Alderete and Jack Fishel making it 4-0 Beavers by the end of the third. Caltech couldn't get any offense going the rest of the game with only one baserunner reaching through the last five innings. The Beavers instead relied on their strong pitching from starter Brendan Flaherty who threw six innings of one-run baseball. Flaherty struck out five batters, walking two, allowing only two hits and one run in a great start to the season. Jacob Alderete recorded a save in this one, which was the first in his collegiate career. As for Brendan Flaherty, he got the win, his ninth of his collegiate career making him the solo all-time leader in pitching wins in Caltech baseball history. After the game, Assistant Coach Frank Craska voiced some praise for his guys. It's always great to come out and start the season with a W," said Craska, "Brendan set the tone, did a good job getting ahead, and the guys came out and got some early runs and some timely hits, and made plays when we had to, and it's really good to get a W to start the year and head into the weekend with a chance to win the series."
Concordia Texas earned a gritty win in the season opener against Howard Payne University. The Tornados overcame a three-run deficit & Colby Christian secured the walk-off walk in the 11th inning inside Gardner-Boggs Field on Friday. The HPU Yellowjackets would take the lead with a three-run homer in the top of the seventh. With a chance to reduce the deficit, Zach Seigrist connected on a two-out, RBI-double to bring home Carson Riley for a 6-4 score. Colby Christian would then knock in another run when slapped a RBI-double down the left field line to assist Seigrist to home. CTX would tie the game when Aaron Gomez scored on a wild pitch heading into the ninth inning. Concordia would have a chance to walk it off as they loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth, but the Yellowjackets would escape the frame unscathed. Concordia would not squander another opportunity with the bases loaded in the 11th when Christian would collect a walk-on walk to bring in Austin Pryor for the winning run.