LINCOLN, Calif. – It was a clear afternoon on Thursday, as Jessup and Hawaii Pacific returned to McBean Stadium for day two of their series. Both teams grabbed a game in the doubleheader, as the series moves to Friday with Jessup in position to grab the series.
Jessup enters Friday with a 14-5 mark in PacWest action. The Sharks sit one game over .500 at 12-11.
Jessup got off to a strong start in the first game behind a two-run homer by
Tony Otis, followed by a one-run double from
Cody Antone in the first inning. The Sharks answered back in the second with three runs of their own including an RBI single by Noah Blythe. Hawaii Pacific's bats stayed hot as they scored two in the third to take the lead and Bronson Rivera hit a three-run blast in the fourth to put the Sharks up 8-4. Another trio of runs came across the scoreboard in the fifth with a triple by Frankie Peralez and a single by Kan Taguchi.
The Warriors fought back in the seventh with a grand slam over the batter's eye in centerfield fence by
Kayde Iranon, but two fly balls to right field ended all hopes of a comeback.
Jayden Gabrillo earned the win for the Sharks while
Diego Chavez received the loss for Jessup.
Freshman
Loren Iwata earned the start in the second game as was dealing from the first pitch, allowing just two runs while striking out four in 5.2 innings of work. Iwata allowed no more than a single base runner per inning in his first four innings of work. All four of Jessup's runs came in the second inning with a two-run double by Antone followed up by sacrifice flies by
Cole Anderson and
Jack Grant.
Drew Andrews had a solid outing at the plate going two for three with a single and a double.
Rudy Rodriguez was also two for three for the Warriors.
Hawaii Pacific got one back in the fifth with a single by Taguchi and added another in the sixth with a solo shot by Tyler Arnold. The Sharks had runners at the corners in the seventh, but a Rivera groundout earned Jessup junior
Joey Miller the save.
The fourth and final game of the series will take place tomorrow at McBean Stadium at 5 p.m.
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Jessup University is a provisional member of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Division II and the PacWest Conference. 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 (Instagram & X).
