LINCOLN, Calif. - The Warriors did it again, facing the Menlo Oaks in the final two games of the series Jessup baseball ran away with the win in game one and had a comeback late in game two with a three-run home run taking the win and completing the four-game sweep.
Head coach in his inaugural season
Trevor Paine was pleased with his team's outing this weekend, "Really proud of the way we competed all weekend. We showed incredible resilience coming from behind twice and it took contributions from lots of different guys."
An early lead in the bottom of the first frame by the Warriors would be answered in the following inning with the same number of runs, 2, but the Oaks would add another in the top of the fourth to take the 3-2 lead.
Once again the Warriors would answer right back in the bottom of the frame to take the lead for good as
Austen Swift singled to right field for the game-tying RBI and
Jordan Williams followed with a 2-RBI single for the 5-3 lead.
The Warriors would tack on another two innings of offensive tallying a pair of runs in the seventh inning and three in the eighth with
Grant St. Martin knocking a 2-run bomb.
Senior
Micah Gunter would celebrate his senior day with his sixth win of the season and a career-high nine strikeouts in his 6.2 inning outing.
Jordan Yu and
Grant Doi would finish the final two innings allowing no hits.
During the break, the Warriors would celebrate their 15 graduating seniors with their family and friends on the field. Paine commented, "I couldn't be happier to send this senior class out with a game like that on Senior Day. This group has accomplished incredible things for this program and university, making them more than deserving of today and this memory."
Down 5-0 by the third inning, the Warriors would have to put in some work to battle their way back and complete the sweep over the Oaks in game two. A pair of runs would come across as the Warriors hit the board in the bottom of the fourth, senior
Josh Duitsman leading it off with an RBI double. Another senior,
Noah Shackles would hit the sacrifice fly to make it 5-2 at the end of the fourth.
A solo home run would add another run for the Oaks, while the Warriors would answer back in the bottom of the frame but not able to make ground on the visiting Menlo's 6-3 lead.
The rally would come in the sixth inning for the Warriors as they found themselves with bases loaded and no outs. Swift would get it started with a two-run double getting the Warriors within one. Up next was
Jordan Williams, hitting the three-run bomb to take the lead 8-6 as the Warriors went into their final three outs if they maintained the lead.
"Jordan has been one of our hottest bats the last couple weeks so I knew we were in a good spot when he came to bat," Paine said. "He did a great job making adjustments pitch-by-pitch, which is a reflection of his high-level performance. It was a very big swing in a big spot."
Senior closer
Tyler Fujimoto would get it done as an error by the Warriors would push one run across but the final out would be recorded for the 8-7 win, Fujimoto collecting his fourth save on the season.
With the GSAC baseball standings changing game-by-game, the Warriors bump up to fourth with a 25-11, 15-9 record with a pair of conference series remaining.
Paine reflected on the final stretch of the regular season, "We have been able to build up some momentum these last couple series so we just need to keep playing clean baseball in all facets of the game. We have two difficult conference opponents coming up so we are going to have to play our best baseball."
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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).
