The Seattle University defense held Utah Valley University off the scoreboard for most of the night, and the Redhawk offense kicked into gear late in the game for a 7-1 victory over the Wolverines Thursday night in the fifth game of the Western Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament at Hohokam Stadium.
Skyler Genger (Kent, Wash.) was forced to work throughout his outing, as Utah Valley’s leadoff hitter reached base safely in five of the seven innings Genger started. Genger stranded six Wolverine runners through the first five innings as he threw 93 pitches, 67 of them for strikes, in 6 2/3 innings of work, allowing five hits and one walk while striking out six batters.
Seattle U finally broke through in the sixth inning, as Colin Peterson (Bellingham, Wash.) laced a one-out single to left field, stole second base, and advanced to third on a wild pitch. With the infield drawn in, Landon Cray (Chimacum, Wash.) sent a 2-2 pitch up the middle for a single, bringing in Peterson with the first run of the game.
Dalton Hurd (Bend, Ore.) followed Cray’s hit with a single of his own to put two runners on base. With two outs, Sheldon Stober (Kent, Wash.) lined the first pitch he saw into right-center field for a single, with Cray hustling around third base and scoring before Stober was thrown out trying to stretch his hit into a double.
The Redhawks extended their lead in the seventh inning as Brock Carpenter (Milton, Wash.) led off with a single and Griffin Andreychuk (Nanaimo, B.C.) laid down a sacrifice bunt that was thrown away, allowing the runners to reach second and third base. After a Utah Valley pitching change, Grant Newton (Bend, Ore.) smashed a 0-1 pitch to right-center field, one-hopping the fence for a ground-rule double that scored both Carpenter and Andreychuk.
Eric Koenig (Auburn, Wash.) replaced Newton as a pinch runner and advanced to third base on a wild pitch. Jack Reisinger (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) laid down a perfect squeeze bunt, scoring Koenig to increase the Redhawk lead to 5-0. Peterson continued the inning with a single, stole both second and third, and scored on a sacrifice fly to right field by Hurd.
Utah Valley (19-34) broke its scoreless string in the eighth inning, as Mark Krueger led off with a single up the middle, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and came around to score on a double to right-center field by Craig Brinkerhoff. Seattle U responded in the bottom of the eighth when Stober led off with a walk, advanced to second base on a groundout, stole third base, and scored on a bloop single by Andreychuk with the infield drawn in.
Ryan Freitas (Concord, Calif.) came on in relief of Genger in the seventh inning and picked up a strikeout to end the Wolverine scoring threat. Garrett Anderson (Kennewick, Wash.) pitched the final two innings, allowing hits to the first two batters he saw before retiring the final six hitters in order, including two strikeouts.
“Genger did not have his regular stuff, but tonight’s performance tells you a lot about his character, as he just refuses to lose. The play of the night was Grant’s big hit against a lefty to create some separation. We persevered and stuck with it tonight,” said Seattle U head coach Donny Harrel.
Peterson led the Redhawk offense with a 2-for-4 performance with two runs scored and three runs batted in. Kade Andrus and Jake Marvos earned two hits apiece for the Wolverines, but Utah Valley stranded eight runners on base as it hit just 1-for-18 with runners on base, including 1-for-14 with runners in scoring position.
With the victory, Seattle U reached the 30-win mark in a single season for the first time ever in the history of the program. The Redhawks also earned their first Division I postseason victory ever, losing two games each time during their three NCAA District VIII playoff appearances in 1952, 1953, and 1954, as well as both games they played in last year’s WAC Baseball Tournament.
Seattle University (30-25) will face second seed Bakersfield, who defeated North Dakota 11-1 earlier in the day, Friday, May 22, starting at 7 p.m. The Redhawks will start lefthander Tarik Skubal (Kingman, Ariz.), while the Roadrunners will counter with righthanded pitcher James Barragan.
“Tarik had success against them the first time around. We knew this matchup might happen with the top two seeds. I like how we came back tonight, and it is good for us to have the night game again tomorrow. It should be a great game,” added Harrel.