In a closely contested game, it was North Dakota who enjoyed the timely hitting and tough relief pitching, defeating Seattle University 3-2 Saturday afternoon in a Western Athletic Conference collegiate baseball contest at Bannerwood Park.
After the first 15 hitters of the game were retired in order, Jack Reisinger (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) led off the bottom of the third inning with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Eric Koenig (Auburn, Wash.). As Griffin Andreychuk (Nanaimo, B.C.) looked at ball four to draw a one-out walk, Reisinger took off for third base, and the throw from North Dakota catcher Brett Harrison sailed into left field, allowing Reisinger to score the first run of the game.
Seattle U starter Skyler Genger (Kent, Wash.) struck out seven of the first 11 batters he faced, but he walked Jeff Campbell with two outs, and Ryan Reese followed with a fly ball into right-center field that the Redhawk defense lost in the sun, allowing Reese to drive in Campbell with an RBI double that tied the game at 1-1.
North Dakota (13-18, 7-7 WAC) took the lead in the fifth inning when Harrison drew a leadoff walk, advanced to third base on a sacrifice bunt and a groundout, and scored when Cooper Maas’s chopper sailed just out of Genger’s reach for an infield single. Campbell and Reese earned back-to-back singles in the sixth inning, but Genger induced an inning-ending groundout to end the North Dakota scoring threat.
Dalton Hurd (Bend, Ore.) led off the bottom of the sixth inning with a double down the left field line, advanced to third on a groundout to the right side of the infield by Sheldon Stober (Kent, Wash.), and scored the game-tying run on a sacrifice fly to right field by Brock Carpenter (Milton, Wash.).
Genger hit Harrison with a pitch to lead off the seventh inning, and then Luis Calvo laced a double into left field, advancing Harrison to third base. Maas followed with a single to center field, driving in Harrison with the go-ahead run and putting runners on the corners with just one out. Ted Hammond (Shoreline, Wash.) came on in relief of Genger, picked off Calvo at third base, and then struck out Daniel Lockhert to keep the Redhawk deficit at one.
Reisinger led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a single, and Grant Newton (Bend, Ore.) sacrificed pinch runner TJ Byrne (Federal Way, Wash.) over to second base. Campbell came in from right field to replace North Dakota starter Zach Muckenhirn on the mound and retired the next two Redhawk batters in order to end the scoring opportunity.
North Dakota had a chance to increase its lead in the eighth inning, loading the bases on two singles and a walk. Chris Carns (Federal Way, Wash.) entered the game and struck out two straight hitters to leave the bases loaded, and then, after allowing a leadoff single in the ninth inning, he repeated himself with two strikeouts to end that North Dakota threat.
Campbell remained on the mound for North Dakota and allowed a walk in both the eighth and ninth innings, but he induced a double play grounder in the ninth to end the game and earn his seventh save of the season. Muckenhirn picked up the victory for North Dakota, allowing five hits, two walks, and two runs in 6 1/3 innings of work while striking out five batters.
Genger took the loss for Seattle U, giving up six hits, two walks, and three runs in 6 1/3 innings on the mound, although he improved upon his strikeouts lead in the WAC with nine more strikeouts during the afternoon. Hurd and Reisinger each finished with two hits and one run scored to lead the Redhawk offense.
Seattle University (21-17, 12-2 WAC) will look to win its fifth straight conference series in as many opportunities in the rubber game of the weekend series against North Dakota Sunday, April 19, starting at 12 noon at Bannerwood Park. Live stats and live audio/video will be available on GoSeattleU.com.