After Pacific jumped on the board with a single run in the first inning, SeattleU responded, starting with a single by Sean Narby (Auburn, Wash.) and a double from Riley Tompkins (Lynnwood, Wash.). Narby scored and Tompkins moved up to third base on a passed ball, and Doug Buser (Orinda, Calif.) followed with a single that scored Tompkins. Buser stole second base and came around to score on an RBI single by Cullen Hendrickson (Auburn, Wash.).
In the fourth inning, a single by Steve Kirbach (Kirkland, Wash.) and a double from Buser put runners on second and third base. Hendrickson sent both runners home with a single to center field and advanced to third on a single by Mike Malland (Mukilteo, Wash.). After a Nate Roberts (Silverdale, Wash.) walk loaded the bases, relief pitcher John Prato Matthews threw a wild pitch that scored Hendrickson and advanced the other runners up one base. A Josh Kalalau (University Place, Wash.) sacrifice fly and a Narby double increased the Redhawk lead to 8-1.
Buser singled and stole second in the fifth inning, and Prato Matthews would hit Malland and Roberts to load the bases. Kalalau drove in Buser and Malland with a double to left field to give SeattleU a 10-1 lead. Meanwhile, starting pitcher Arlo Evasick (Chimacum, Wash.) cruised through the first five innings, giving up only three hits and one run.
Pacific (6-4) started its comeback in the bottom of the sixth with three straight singles to load the bases. A SeattleU throwing error allowed the first run of the inning to score, and Matt Fuson followed with a single that scored Mike Walker and ended Evasick's day. Max Whieldon (Trabuco Hills, Calif.) came on in relief, but immediately allowed a two-run double by pinch hitter John Haberman. Ben Gorang followed with a sacrifice fly, and Nick Longmire hit a two-run home run to right field to bring the Tigers within two runs at 10-8.
With one out in the eighth inning, Joe Oliveira walked, followed by a double by Gorang that put runners on second and third. Bryan Dalton (Vancouver, Wash.) came on in relief of Whieldon, gave up a sacrifice fly to Longmire that scored Oliveira to make the score 10-9, and ended the inning when Brett Christopher lined out to Roberts.
Dalton gave up a leadoff walk to Brian Martin and struck out Walker, but J.B. Brown singled up the middle to put two runners on base. Allen Riley struck out, and Fuson hit a fly ball to center field that Buser was able to catch to give SeattleU its first victory of the weekend.
Evasick (1-1) picked up his first win of the season, while Dalton earned the first save of any SeattleU pitcher this season after holding off the Tigers through 1 2/3 innings of relief work. Casey Neimeyer (1-2) took the loss for Pacific after allowing 11 hits and seven runs in 3 1/3 innings of work. Hunter Carnevale kept the Tigers in the game with 4 1/3 innings of relief, allowing just one hit while striking out five Redhawk batters.
Hendrickson and Buser bookended the SeattleU lineup with 3-for-5 days, with Hendrickson driving in three runs and Buser scoring three times. Narby went 2-for-5 with a run scored and a run batted in, while Malland and Kalalau notched 2-for-4 hitting efforts, with Malland scoring twice and Kalalau driving in three runs.
Seattle University (2-7) will look to even the series Sunday, March 7, beginning at 12 noon at Klein Family Field. After a four-game series at Oregon next weekend, the Redhawks will host Cal State Northridge in a four-game weekend series at Bannerwood Park in Bellevue March 19-21.