For the second straight game, Seattle University held a lead late in the contest, but once again Bakersfield put together a comeback, scoring four runs in the eighth inning and holding on for a 5-4 victory over the Redhawks Sunday afternoon at Hohokam Stadium, giving the Roadrunners the Western Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament championship and the automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
Brock Carpenter (Milton, Wash.) got Seattle U on the board as he led off the bottom of the second inning with a solo home run to left field. After two outs, Colin Peterson (Bellingham, Wash.) sent a single into right field, and Michael McCann (Vancouver, Wash.) followed with a double down the right field line, scoring Peterson for his fifth RBI of the tournament. Landon Cray (Chimacum, Wash.) kept the inning alive with an infield single, and Dalton Hurd (Bend, Ore.) followed with a single to left field that scored McCann to increase the Redhawk lead to 3-0.
Bakersfield (36-22-1) scored its first run in the seventh inning for the second straight game, as Jordie Hein reached base on an infield single, Mylz Jones reached on a Redhawk error, and David Metzgar laid down a perfect bunt single to load the bases with nobody out. Skyler Genger (Kent, Wash.) came on in relief of Ted Hammond (Shoreline, Wash.) and induced a flyout by Max Carter that scored Hein, followed by a groundout and a strikeout that ended the Roadrunner rally.
The Redhawks responded in the bottom of the seventh inning, as Sheldon Stober (Kent, Wash.) hit a one-out triple into the right-center field gap, and Carpenter followed with a shot up the middle that eluded Bakersfield reliever Nick Rogowski for an RBI single. Carpenter stole second base and Griffin Andreychuk (Nanaimo, B.C.) was hit by a pitch to put two runners on base with one out, but the Redhawks could not convert the scoring opportunity.
With one out in the eighth inning, pinch hitter Kris Cayton drew a walk, followed by singles by Joey Sanchez and Hein that loaded the bases. Jones cleared the bases with a double down the left field line, tying the game at 4-4. Ryan Freitas (Concord, Calif.) came on in relief of Genger, but he allowed a single to Metzgar, subsequently named the WAC Tournament MVP, that scored Jones with the eventual game-winning run.
Seattle U put together one final scoring opportunity in the ninth inning, as Carpenter was hit by a pitch and Andreychuk drew a walk, but Rogowski was able to induce a lineout for the final out of the game. Rogowski earned the victory after pitching 3 2/3 innings in relief of Bakersfield starter Hayden Carter, who gave the Roadrunners 5 1/3 innings on two days rest.
“This team has nothing to be ashamed about. They gave it everything they had this week, but a couple of breaks did not go our way,” Seattle U head coach Donny Harrel said. “I thank the seniors for four years of significant contributions to the program, and I hope the returners will use this to push themselves to get better so that we can better handle this situation the next time we reach this point.”
Three Redhawks were voted onto the All-Tournament Team, including McCann, who led the Redhawks with a .538 batting average (7-of-13), plus he scored two runs and collected five RBI. Cray batted .467 (7-of-15) during the tournament, including a double and a home run, plus he scored five runs, drew three walks, laid down two sacrifice bunts, and made 12 putouts without an error. Hurd finished with a .375 batting average (6-of-16), including a double and a home run, and he led Seattle U with six runs batted in over the past four days.
Seattle University finishes the 2015 season with a 31-27 record, the most victories in a single season in the history of the baseball program. The Redhawks finished second in the WAC regular season standings by just a half-game, and they won their first-ever Division I postseason contests to advance to the championship game of the WAC Tournament.