Seattle University showed its resilience Sunday afternoon, rallying from a six-run deficit in the late innings to defeat New Mexico State, 9-7, in a Western Athletic Conference collegiate baseball game at Bannerwood Park, as the Redhawks won their seventh straight game overall and their 10th straight conference contest.
Down 7-1 with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Redhawks’ rally started with a solo home run by Griffin Andreychuk (Nanaimo, B.C.), his first career collegiate home run. Dalton Hurd (Bend, Ore.) followed with a double to left field, stole third base, and scored on a single by Sheldon Stober (Kent, Wash.) to close the Seattle U deficit to 7-3.
After retiring the final batter in the seventh inning, Aggie reliever Michael Paulson walked Brock Carpenter (Milton, Wash.) and Grant Newton (Bend, Ore.) to lead off the eighth inning before being replaced by Matt Stein. Pinch hitter Sean Sutton (Coeur d’Alene, Idaho) drew a walk to load the bases, and Colin Peterson (Bellingham, Wash.) was able to beat the relay throw from second base, driving in Carpenter and putting runners at the corners with just one out.
Peterson stole second base, and Curtis Perrin (Vancouver, Wash.) drew a walk to once again load the bases. Bill Conard came on in relief of Stein and immediately gave up a two-run single to Andreychuk, scoring both Newton and Peterson as well as advancing Perrin to third base. Hurd laid down a perfect safety squeeze, allowing Perrin to score the game-tying run. Stober was intentionally walked to create more opportunities of a force play, but Brian Olson (Black Diamond, Wash.) sent a single through the left side of the infield, driving in Andreychuk. Carpenter would follow with his own RBI single, as Stober brought home an insurance run.
Chris Carns (Federal Way, Wash.) had come on in relief in the top of the seventh inning, giving up one hit in the seventh and two hits in the eighth inning, but he stranded all three Aggie runners on base as he earned his first career collegiate victory. Kyle Doyle (Covington, Wash.) retired the New Mexico State batters in order in the ninth inning for his second save of the week.
“The run that our guys are on right now is really impressive, and we just find different ways to win games. Today was a reflection of our team never giving up and continuing to battle despite the score,” Seattle U head coach Donny Harrel said. “Chris did a great job of coming in and keeping us in the game, and then Kyle was great in finishing things up.”
Seattle U struck first in the bottom of the second inning thanks to back-to-back Aggie errors, the second of which allowed Michael McCann (Vancouver, Wash.) to reach base. He advanced to third on a double by Jack Reisinger (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) and scored on a groundout hit by Peterson.
New Mexico State (4-27-1, 1-10-1 WAC) answered in the top of the third inning when Joseph Koerper led off with a single and Brent Hermanussen followed with a two-run home run over the wall in left-center field. Those would be the only runs allowed by Seattle U starter Tarik Skubal (Kingman, Ariz.), who also gave up six hits and two walks in five innings of work while striking out four batters.
The Aggies exploded for five runs in the sixth inning off Redhawk reliever Ted Hammond (Shoreline, Wash.), starting with a sacrifice fly by Koerper with the bases loaded that brought in Michael Barrientos. Hermanussen drove in Daniel Kennon with a single to right-center field, and Quinnton Mack would score on a wild pitch. Cameron Haskins closed out the scoring with a two-run home run over the wall in right field.
Robert Kraft started the game for New Mexico State and lasted 6 2/3 innings, allowing seven hits, one walk, and three runs, two of them earned, while picking up two strikeouts. The Aggie bullpen combined to give up three hits, six walks, and six runs in 1 1/3 innings of work.
Olson went 3-for-5 with an RBI while Andreychuk finished the day 2-for-5 with two runs scored and three RBI. Hermanussen led the Aggies with a 4-for-5 performance with two runs scored and three RBI, while Barrientos went 3-for-5 with a run scored and Haskins contributed a 2-for-4 effort with a run scored and two RBI.
With the win, Seattle U extended its overall winning streak to seven games, the longest winning streak since baseball returned to competition in 2010, with the previous modern record being five straight wins in both 2012 (Feb. 29-March 7) and 2014 (Apr. 9-15). The Redhawks have swept three straight WAC series and have won 10 consecutive conference games to maintain a half-game lead over Grand Canyon in the league standings.
Seattle University (19-15, 11-1 WAC) will head across town to face the Washington Huskies Tuesday, April 14, at Husky Ballpark starting at 5 p.m. The Redhawks then host the University of Puget Sound Loggers Wednesday, April 15, at 7:15 p.m. at Bannerwood Park, followed by a three-game WAC home series against the University of North Dakota Friday through Sunday, April 17-19.