LINCOLN, Calif. – Coming off two needed wins to wrap up their trip to Santa Barbara last week, Jessup was back to work on Friday, taking on the No. 6 ranked Royals of Hope International. On a day that started as bleak as one can, Jessup battled in game two, walking off in the seventh to earn a critical split.
"I was just happy with how we responded," said head coach
Trevor Paine. "It would've been easy to come out flat and not engaged in that second game. But, you know, if you have the mindset of taking it one game at a time and one pitch at a time, then good things can happen."
Jessup (15-18-1, 8-11-1 GSAC) falls to seventh place in the GSAC after the split. They need to reach fifth place to continue their season in the GSAC Tournament. The Master's (10-8 GSAC) currently hold fifth.
The Warriors will host TMU during the final series of the season.
Game one was dominated by the pitching performance of HIU's Connor Martin. The first eight outs Martin recorded were all strikeouts as the right-hander struck out 14 over six shutout innings of work.
Hope struck first with five runs in the first, and they continued the barrage, adding four more over the next three innings. The Royals' largest inning came in the ninth, a nine spot, giving them a 20-0 advantage.
The shutout would end with two away in the ninth as
Nate Van Patten drove in
Noah Takayama on a hard-hit ball up the middle.
Charlie Perkins earned his fifth loss of the season in game one, surrendering nine runs on eight hits over four innings of work. He was followed by Mason Avevedo, who offered a steady hand, allowing just one run over three innings in relief.
Jessup turned to
Trevor Arnston in game two, coming off one of his most sound outings of the year a week ago against Westmont. Arnston kept the Warriors in the game, allowing two runs on seven hits over his five frames on the mound.
Opposing Arnston was the reigning GSAC Pitcher of the Year, Hector Garcia. Garcia showed off why he earned the award last year, holding Jessup to just one earned run on two hits, striking out six over five innings. But that one run was a big one, coming via a solo shot over the batter's eye in center field off the bat of Chris Cook.
On the pitching performance they faced Friday, Paine noted, "I would saw in terms of stuff and the ability to command multiple pitches, yeah, that was one of the better duos we've seen."
Hope negated Jessup a shutdown inning in the third, plating a pair to go ahead 2-1. But Jessup did not quit, evening the game in the fifth on Takayama's sacrifice fly.
With the game tied up entering the seventh, HIU put a runner on first to lead off the inning and decided to play small ball. Attempting to bunt the runner over, instead, the ball was popped up.
Caleb Markwith made an incredible diving grab before firing the ball over to first for the double play.
The momentum carried into the bottom half as Jessup put a pair on with nobody out, bringing up
Kevin Gutierrez. After showing bunt on the first pitch, Gutierrez swung away on the second, grounding one up the middle that scored
Dustin McElwain, sending the Jessup dugout into a dead sprint as they mobbed Gutierrez in celebration of a walk-off win.
Markwith moves to 3-3 this season, earning the victory after two scoreless frames in relief.
The Warriors and Royals will meet again tomorrow for one final game at 1:15 p.m. After that, Jessup will welcome Hawai'i Pacific to McBean Park for a 5:15 start. HPU brings with them a coaching staff filled with familiar names to Jessup Baseball fans.
On seeing some Jessup alumni tomorrow, Paine added, "It's always fun to see those guys and connect with them again. Especially since they're still in baseball and they're still coaching. It will be a really enjoyable time to see those guys and compete against them. They did really special things for this program, so it's good to catch up with them like they never left."
HPU is led by former Jessup assistant Dane Fujinaka and assisted by former Warriors Ashkhon Kuhaulua and Kreighton Tsuruda-Gaspar.
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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 Jessup University. Follow Jessup Athletics on social media: Jessup University Athletics (Facebook) and @JessupAthletics (Twitter & Instagram).
