ST. GEORGE, Utah – Tanner Inouye and
Ryan Dorney combined to toss a pitching gem against Dixie State in the opener of the doubleheader as the Saints split the pair on the road, 5-3 and 10-5.
Inouye (1-0) went the first 5.2 innings, allowing all three runs; however, none were earned, while punching out three batters. Dorney came in to pick up the rare 10-out save, allowing only two hits and striking out two Trailblazers.
Micah McNicoll provided five hits in the two games, and
Colton Peha slugged the first home run of the season for SMU.
In the opener,
Austin Feist put the Saints on top in the first, lining out to left, but driving in
Isaac Hegamin. However, the Saints gave the lead up in the bottom of the first on a pass ball, tying the game at 1-1.
The score remained the same until the fifth when
Kahi Hirano doubled the right field line, plating
Aaron Renaud. The next batter up was Hegamin, and he reached on a fielding error, which brought home Hirano for a 3-1 lead.
Dixie State managed to tie the game once again in the bottom half of the inning. In the sixth, the Saints loaded bases and Hirano scored the lone run of the inning with a walk. SMU tacked on an insurance run in the seventh with a sac fly from
Cody Chavis, bringing in McNicoll to put SMU on top 5-3. Dorney closed the door in the ninth, leaving the tying run in scoring position with a groundball to second.
In the second game, Dixie State scored first but Peha managed to give his team the lead back with a two-run shot to right field. But once again, Dixie State stormed back to regain the lead, 3-2 in the second.
The next action came in the sixth on a two RBI double from Dixie State put them ahead 5-2. The Saints was able to cut into the score with an RBI single by McNicoll in the seventh inning.
Ryne Oshiro came through in the eighth with a two RBI single to center field, scoring both
Ty Matsunami and Feist to tie the game.
However, the game slipped away from SMU in the bottom of the eighth, when Dixie State up five runs up on the board, and salvaged a split on the day.
Benjamin Wadowski got the start for SMU, going 5.2 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits.
Luke Hare recorded the final out in the sixth, and also pitched a shutout seventh.
Mickey Walker (0-1) picked up the loss after tossing only two-thirds of an inning, giving up five runs, before
Garrison Ritter got the final out.
The Saints return to California to wrap up their games on the road trip with a single game against CSU San Bernardino tomorrow. Game is set to begin at 11:00 a.m. with live stats on smusaints.com.
