NEWBERG & MCMINNVILLE, Oreg. – The Saint Martin's baseball team won the day on Friday, with two big victories, the first a thin 4-3 win before a 12-3 trouncing of the George Fox Bruins. The next day the Saints would come up short with two one-run losses to Linfield University.
After starter
Cole Hatton allowed just one run over the first five innings,
Raige Velez took over firing two innings scoreless when the Saints were able to take the lead. First,
Austin Schaler came through with a hit to score
Kyle Schabot, and in the next inning it was
Rylen Miyasaki that punched a two-RBI single to score
Braeden McNally and
Mark Steward. A sac fly from
Dylan McLaughlin added a crucial insurance run. Although things got sketchy,
Nikki Scott II was able to lock down the save in the eighth and ninth, his first of the season.
FINAL: SMU 4, George Fox 3
Blaze Wong earned the start in game two, and the sophomore was tremendous, allowing just two earned runs over five innings and striking out three. Down 3-1 going into the top of the sixth, the Saints needed tallies and they got them in a big way. Schaler started off the frame with a single, followed by a McLaughin base hit, then a hit by
Damon Ingram to score Schaler. After a hit batter,
Trevor McCorkle came through with a two-run double and George Fox would finally get their first out with four runs across in the inning. The Saints then scored on six straight at-bats, including double by Ingram and
Hunter Sasaki, singles by Miyasaki, Schaler, and McLaughlin, then Schabot reaching on an error. When all was said and done, the Saints had scored 10 in the sixth, which was more than enough for the win. Even so,
Evan Nicol added an RBI single in the final inning.
FINAL: SMU 12, George Fox 3
The Saints got walked off in game one Saturday against Linfield. SMU scored first with a
Dylan McLaughlin RBI single, but Linfield would answer with two runs of their own. An RBI groundout in the sixth evened things up, but in the bottom of the ninth, Linfield would hit a solo home run to win.
Colin Driscoll got the start, allowing just one earned run in six innings of work.
FINAL: Linfield 3, SMU 2
For a second straight game, the Saints would get walked off. This time, it was in extra innings though, as Linfield would not let it slip away easy. Ingram homered in the first inning, but it was the fifth where SMU exploded.
Peter Hollabaugh with an RBI double, Sasaki scored a run on a single, a sac fly by
Mark Steward, and a
Zen Staszkow two-run double. The Saints then scored three more in the sixth, when Sasaki had a two-RBI double and Staszkow pushed another across on an RBI fielder's choice. Linfield would then find a way to storm back and tie the score and walk it off on a sac fly in the 10
th inning, on a game that was originally scheduled to play on seven.
FINAL: Linfield 12, SMU 11
The Saints open GNAC play this week, with four games in Ellensburg against Central Washington.
