PORTLAND, Ore. – In the opening game of the GNAC Championships,
Tanner Inouye went the distance against the top offense in the conference in Montana State Billings. However, a three-run home run in the seventh inning for the Yellowjackets proved to be difference maker in the 4-2 result.
Inouye sat down the first 15 batters he faced on the night, striking out six through the first five innings. The Saints broke the scoreless tie in the seventh when
Ryne Oshiro connected on a ball for a two-run home run off the right field foul pole. The Yellowjackets responded right back with four in the bottom half of the seventh to pull in front. Saint Martin's managed to get runners on second and third with two outs in the ninth, but were unable to come up with the game-tying knock.
The bats for the Saints created opportunities in the opening frames of the game. SMU had runners in scoring position in the second, third and fourth inning. However, each time, Montana State Billings starter Jared Molnaa was able to work out of the jam and keep the Saints off the board.
In the seventh,
Bryant Nakagawa connected on a one out single, and after a strikeout forced two outs, Oshiro stepped to the plate. Connecting 2-1 pitch, Oshiro hit his third home run of the season to put the Saints on the board 2-0.
In the next half inning, the Yellowjackets responded with two singles, and walk, scoring one run and putting two runners in scoring position. On the first pitch to Conner Linebarger, the second baseman lifted a ball to right field, delivering the three-run dagger to the Saints.
After a quiet eighth inning, the Saints were able to put the tying run in scoring position with two outs. The Yellowjackets misplayed a ball in the left field, which should have been the final out, instead resulted in runners on second and third with two outs. With Oshiro up to bat, the Yellowjackets worked out of the jam with a strikeout.
Inouye went all eight innings, only allowing five hits and four runs to the top offense in the league. SMU's offense collected nine hits throughout the game, plating the two runs in the seventh.
Saint Martin's will face Northwest Nazarene on Thursday, May 9 at noon in an elimination game. Live stats and video of the game will be available on smusaints.com.
