LINCOLN, Calif. - Looking for a spark to make their way back to the winner's bracket, the Jessup baseball team had back-to-back games ahead of them in order to conquer, and that is exactly what they did. In the first elimination game, the Warriors took on Judson University where they won 8-1, going on to face the undefeated Antelope Valley. It was a tight start between the Pioneers and Warriors through the first four innings, but the home stretch was in their favor as Jessup tallied 5 runs over the next 5 innings to force a game nine in the NAIA Opening Round with a 6-1 victory.
Returning to the mound today in game one was
Ashkhon Kuhaulua who started for the Warriors on Tuesday against Antelope Valley, throwing six innings. The junior would dominate the bump with a complete game win collecting his seventh on the season allowing just one run with 9 strikeouts.
An early start set the tone for the Warriors against the Eagles as five runs would cross the plate in the first inning in response to Judson's solo shot in the top of the frame. A trio of singles from
Austen Swift,
Joe Starick and
Cal Koga would bring the first three runs in for Jessup. A double from
Steve Pastora would score the fourth and the final run of the inning would reach on a fielder's choice.
In the fourth inning, the Warriors would get their final two runs from Starick again with a single to left and Koga followed suit to bring in
Will Law and take an 8-1 lead.
The final five innings would go scoreless as Jessup would advance in the tournament to take on Antelope Valley in the next game.
Facing the Pioneers now for the second time, the Warriors would have to beat them today to advance to the Championship game where the two teams would meet for the final time.
In what seemed like deja vu, the visiting team hit the board first with a home run, just as played out in game one against the Eagles. But just like game one, that would be the only run to light up the visitors half of the scoreboard as Jessup went on to score six runs to defeat the Pioneers.
Not waiting long to answer back, the Warriors scored in the bottom of the second responding to the Pioneers run as
Connor Braun hit a double to deep left-center to score
Andrew Shaps who pinch ran for
Cal Koga.
Again, the game would go silent until the fifth inning when
Will Law would start things off with a single and come in to score from a Starick double to right field for the 2-1 advantage. Another two runs walked across in the sixth and back-to-back homers in the seventh and eighth from Pastora and
Kawai Takemura would seal the deal.
Jessup will face Antelope Valley for the final game of the NAIA Opening Round matchup tomorrow at 12 pm for a winner takes all and advances to the 2018 Avista-NAIA Baseball World Series in Lewiston, Idaho May 25-June 1.
***
William Jessup University is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and the Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC). For additional information regarding Jessup Athletics, visit www.jessupathletics.com; visit www.jessup.edu for more information on William Jessup University. Follow Jessup Athletics on social media: William Jessup University Athletics (Facebook) and @JessupAthletics (Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat).
