IRVINE, Calif. – The Regis University baseball team faced large deficits in both games of its doubleheader at Concordia University Irvine, falling by a score of 12-1 in the first game and 10-0 in the closer at Eagles Field on Saturday.
How It Happened | Game 1: With the game scoreless in the bottom of the third, Eagles redshirt junior outfielder Jair Donovan belted a home run with senior infielder Haloa Dudoit on first from a walk. The home run gave Concordia a 2-0 lead, and this eventually proved to be all the home team needed.
Later in the third with senior infielder Cooper Moore on third from a wild pitch, senior first baseman/outfielder Bailey Collins tripled to right center to bring Moore home for a 3-0 advantage.
Collins came home on graduate outfielder/pitcher Ryan Johnston's RBI single up the middle to grow the CUI lead to 4-0.
The Eagles added another run for a 5-0 lead in the fourth when senior infielder Shane Hersh scored from second on senior outfielder/pitcher Matt Lautz's double down the left-field line. Hersh reached base on a walk.
More runs followed in the fifth for Concordia. With Moore and Collins on third and second, respectively, junior catcher Juan Zuniga grounded out to shortstop to bring Moore home. Collins proceeded to score on a wild pitch to put CUI up by a score of 7-0.
The Rangers finally ended the shutout in the top of the seventh when freshman infielder
Austin Vaught hit an RBI single into right field with the bases loaded. The hit sent junior outfielder
Andy Beyene home from third for a 7-1 deficit.
In the bottom half of the inning though, Moore hit a solo home run to start off a five-run seventh. The Eagles' scoring run ended on Dudoit's RBI groundout to second, which brought Hersh home for a 12-1 Concordia lead.
Game Notes: Despite the loss, Regis had eight hits. Beyene (2 H, 1 2B, 1 R) was RU's lone scored run. Vaught (2 H, 1 3B, 1 RBI) contributed the Rangers' one RBI. Junior infielder
Brevin Owen, senior outfielder
Coby Zimmerman, junior catcher
JT Stanley and redshirt sophomore outfielder
McKay Banks all had a hit. Junior pitcher
Adam Hubley (0-1) pitched 3.2 innings of work in which he allowed five earned runs and three walks while striking out four.
How It Happened | Game 2: The doubleheader closer featured three scoreless innings to start. However, with Donovan on second after a walk and stolen base, Collins ended the scoreless tie with a two-run homer for CUI in the bottom of the fourth. This was all the Eagles would need.
Four batters later, Hersh contributed a two-RBI double that brought home freshman outfielder Shane Schick from third and senior catcher Tony Garcia III from first to give Concordia a 4-0 lead.
Unfortunately, CUI was just getting started and assembled a six-run fifth. This started on Donovan's RBI single and scored Dudoit, who was an unearned run. The bats for the Eagles were finally quieted after Hersh's two-RBI single that scored Schick from third and Garcia III from second.
Game Notes: Freshman infielder
Matt Marlow and Stanley each had a hit. Zimmerman (1 BB) had RU's only walk. Freshman pitcher
Porter Hardcastle (0-1) pitched 4.1 innings in which he gave up six runs (five earned) and three walks while striking out four in the loss.
Up Next for the Rangers: The Rangers drop to an 0-3 record overall. Regis closes out its series at Concordia on Sunday at Eagles Field. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. MT.
