LINCOLN, Calif. – In a park known to be the enemy of pitchers and the best friend of hitters, a rare pitcher's duel broke out on Saturday in the rubber game between Jessup and OUAZ. Led by the veteran left-hander
Max Moreno, the Warriors tossed a shutout, leading to another series victory.
Jessup is now 20-4 on the season, and they continue their dominance at home as the record at McBean Park moves to 19-2.
Moreno guided Jessup throughout the day as the lefty stymied the Spirit from the first inning on. OUAZ totaled just three base runners during the seven innings Moreno was on the bump, and none of them made it around the bases as Jessup records their first shutout of the season.
Head coach
Trevor Paine talked about Moreno's day. "Max was really special today. Those are the type of outings that make Max who he is, and that is what he is capable of week in and week out. If we can continue to get quality starts out of him, that makes us that much easier and tougher to beat."
Moreno allowed two hits while walking one across seven innings. He also punched out five.
Pained turned to
Evan Williams in the eighth, and he responded with a shutout frame.
Nolan Thebiay then came out of the bullpen in the ninth to shut the door for his third save of the season.
Going against the Warriors was the left-hander Evan Massie of the Spirit. Massie had an equally dominating day as he struck out 12 over 7.2 innings of work. The main blemish on his line was the two walks, as one of them came with the bases loaded in the first, allowing
Trey Furrey to score what ended up being the winning run.
"Credit to both starters," added Paine on Massie's outing. "Their guy was really good. That was as good of an outing that I've seen from an opposing pitcher here before."
Bryce Petrilla added an insurance run in the eighth on a blooper down the right-field line, plating
Cody Antone.
Jack Grant extended the rally with an RBI single of his own.
The victory secures another series for the Warriors, and it comes following a 22-5 loss to start the weekend. Paine talked about his team's ability to flush the loss from Friday afternoon and move on to the next two games, "Fortunately, in baseball, you have to have a short attention span. Nothing that happened in game one had a bearing on the series. We knew we were going to have our work cut out for us today to win the series, and I am proud of the way the guys responded."
Now the Warriors get to take a short breather from conference action, as Jessup is slated to visit Simpson in Redding on Tuesday. But then comes the next test as the Warriors welcome Arizona Christian to McBean. ACU is the only team to take a series from the Warriors this year.
The three-game series will be played under the lights, with the action starting on Friday at 6 p.m.
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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).
