SEATTLE — Paced by a career-best 10 strikeout performance from starter Morgan White, Seattle U baseball let out a collective sigh of relief on Thursday, as it snapped a 14-game skid. The Redhawks ended the slide with a convincing 7-2 victory against Utah Valley, as the two teams vie for a berth into next week's the Western Athletic Conference Tournament.
White, who was credited with the win, controlled the opposition early and often, retiring the Wolverine lineup in order in the first and again in the fourth and fifth. The right-hander surrendered a walk in the walk in the second, before his no-hit bid was broken up in the third, but kept Utah Valley off the board.
White continued to cruise into the sixth with back-to-back strikeouts extending his dominance to eight-consecutive batters retired, with five punch outs during the stretch. After allowing a walk, he then froze the next batter for a three strikeout inning and pushed his total on the day to 10. As result, White joined Josh Thompson and Tarik Skubal as the only Seattle U pitchers since the program's return in 2010, to reach double-digit strikeouts and tied both former Redhawks with the third-most strikeouts in a single-game.
The Seattle U hurler returned for the seventh but fatigue had set in and resulted in a Wolverine homer and back-to-back walks, once of which scored later in the inning, making it 5-2.
White's performance from the mound was largely on the backdrop of a 3-0 advantage, as Seattle scratched three unearned runs across in the first and never looked back. Julian Kodama drove-in the opening run for his 16th RBI of the year, before being plated by Shane Jamison.
Seattle U then added to the margin with a run in the fifth and sixth. Gavin Rork touched home for the second time during the game thanks in part to a Kyle Sherick sacrifice fly, after reaching on a one-out triple. Austin Lively then picked up his 93rd career RBI in the sixth as he doubled to score Kellen Carr and make it 5-0.
After UVU pulled two back in the top half of the seventh, the Redhawks responded with back-to-back two-out RBI singles from Grant Hesier and Chase Wells to make it 7-2.
From there it was all Desmond Parisotto from the bump as he took over for White. After cleaning up the seventh, the right-hander worked efficiently inducing a double play in the eighth before ending the inning with a line out. Then in the ninth, Parisotto tallied strikeout and groundout against the first two UVU batters. He allowed a blooped single, but closed the game with a fly out as he picked up his first career save.
At the plate, Jamison led the way with 3-for-3 day, while Wells followed with a 2-for-4 clip. Collectively, the Redhawks out hit Utah Valley, 11-4.
The series resume tomorrow, as Seattle U hosts Utah Valley in a scheduled doubleheader. First pitch from Bannerwood Park is slated for 12 pm.