A hard-fought relief appearance by Ryan Freitas (Concord, Calif.) kept Seattle University in Thursday’s high-scoring game, and the Redhawk offense finally put together a big inning to pull ahead as Seattle U defeated Northern Colorado, 14-9, in a Western Athletic Conference collegiate baseball game at Jackson Field.
Down 9-7 after five innings, the Redhawks started their comeback in the sixth inning when Colin Peterson (Bellingham, Wash.) drew a leadoff walk and came around to score on a double down the right field line by Landon Cray (Chimacum, Wash.). Brian Olson (Black Diamond, Wash.) drew a one-out walk, and Sheldon Stober (Kent, Wash.) followed with a double down the left field line that drove in Cray with the game-tying run.
Brock Carpenter (Milton, Wash.) allowed Olson to score the go-ahead run on a groundout, and Griffin Andreychuk (Nanaimo, B.C.) followed with a single up the middle that scored Stober. Grant Newton (Bend, Ore.) kept the inning going with a single to right-center field, advancing Andreychuk to third base, and he would score on a wild pitch to increase the Redhawk lead to 12-9.
Freitas came on in relief of Seattle U starter Will Dennis (Saratoga, Calif.) in the third inning and allowed one of the inherited runners to score, as well as two runs in the fourth inning. However, after a solo home run by Jensen Park in the fifth inning, Freitas retired eight straight Bear hitters, and then he overcame a leadoff single by Park in the eighth inning with two groundouts and a strikeout to keep Seattle U ahead.
Seattle U added two insurance runs in the ninth inning, first when Cray drove in pinch runner Eric Koenig (Auburn, Wash.) with a single, and then when Dalton Hurd (Bend, Ore.) scored on a Bear error. Garrett Anderson (Kennewick, Wash.) pitched a perfect ninth inning to close out the game in the Redhawks’ favor.
“I like the way we persevered today, especially Ryan after he gave up the runs early in his outing,” Seattle U head coach Donny Harrel said. “We just need to allow Northern Colorado fewer opportunities tomorrow and I feel we will once again be successful.”
The Redhawks scored two runs in the first inning on an RBI single by Olson and a groundout that scored Hurd, but Northern Colorado responded in the bottom of the first inning, pulling ahead when Cole Maltese hit a three-run home run over the wall in left-center field.
Hurd drove in Newton with a single to right field in the second inning to tie the game at 3-3, but the Bears scored two unearned runs in the bottom of the second to pull ahead, 5-3. Stober hit a solo home run to left field in the third inning, but Northern Colorado answered in the bottom of the third, as Dan Reese hit a leadoff triple and scored on a bunt single by Jacob Ek.
The Redhawks collected 17 hits, with Andreychuk going 3-for-3 with two walks, a home run, two runs scored, and three runs batted in. Cray went 3-for-4 with two walks, three runs scored, and two RBI, Newton finished with three hits, and Stober also earned three hits while scoring two runs and driving in four runs.
Northern Colorado (16-28, 12-13 WAC) was led by Park’s 4-for-5 hitting performance as well as Maltese going 3-for-5 with a double, a home run, two runs scored, and five runs batted in. Five different pitchers appeared for the Bears, with Allen Cook taking the loss after allowing four hits, two walks, and five runs in just 2/3rds of an inning.
Seattle University (27-25, 17-8 WAC) faces Northern Colorado in game two of the weekend series Friday, May 15, starting at 2 p.m. local time (1 p.m. Pacific time). Due to Seattle U’s travel schedule, the start time for the series finale Saturday, May 16, has been moved up to 11 a.m. Mountain time.