A friend of mine left me a message of how his son did in their opening game and that his son's picture is on the NAIA school's web site and accounting of the game:
Concordia University Irvine Baseball NewsIRVINE, CA --- It took Concordia's offense 5.1 innings to get its first hit, but when it rained, it poured for the Eagle offense in a soggy 5-1 win over Simpson in both teams' season-opener Tuesday afternoon at Eagle Field.
The Eagles (1-0) picked up their first hit of the day on a bunt single by senior centerfielder Pete Lemone with one out in the sixth, and three of the next four batters followed suit in a three-run frame that gave CUI a 3-1 lead heading into the late innings.
A standout CUI debut from senior left-hander Bennett Whitmore made junior first-baseman Bryan Nicholson's two-run shot in the eighth inning an afterthought, as he went 8.1 innings where he allowed just one earned run on six hits and two walks while striking out seven.
"Bennett Whitmore pitched a great game today," head coach Mike Grahovac said. "He came out and pounded the strike zone all day, and that's just what we needed out of him."
Whitmore's only trouble came in the first two innings, where he surrendered the one run on five hits--two of which came from leadoff hitting centerfielder Jared Jorden, who went 3-for-4 on the day.
Simpson picked up its run in the first when Jorden singled up the middle to lead off the game, stole second and came around to score on a one-out single by Kenny Button to put the Eagles in an early 1-0 hole.
The Redhawks stirred up some two-out trouble in the second, when Shane Battles and Mark Austad--the eighth and ninth place hitters--singled ahead of a base knock from Jorden that loaded the bases.
Whitmore got the next batter, Joshua Corsen, to line out to junior second-baseman Sean Costella to end the threat.
Lemone drew the first of back-to-back walks to lead off the bottom of the first, but junior third-baseman Danny Casey hit into the first of three CUI double-plays to squelch the rally.
Lemone laid a perfect bunt down the third-base line to break up the no-hitter that Simpson starter Joshua Weisse held through 5.1 innings, and junior left-fielder Matt Ivanoff advanced Lemone to third on a hit-and-run to set Casey up with a one-out RBI situation.
Casey's RBI groundout tied the game at 1-1, and Nicholson followed him with a two-out RBI single down the right-field line, then advanced to second on an error by Simpson's right-fielder before touching home on a knock by junior right-fielder Ryan Sheeks to make it a 3-1 lead.
Casey doubled to lead off the bottom of the eighth, and Nicholson followed him with a round-tripper over the right-field fence to make the final score 5-1.
"We started out with a sluggish performance on offense, but started to put things together with some small ball in the sixth," Grahovac said. "It was huge to get Bryan a chance to come up and drive a ball with a man on in the eighth to get some insurance runs, too."
Weisse took the loss for Simpson (0-1), but went 6.1 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits and four walks against three strikeouts.
Nicholson went 2-for-4 with three RBI and two runs to lead the way for CUI.
The game was delayed for about 20 minutes due to rain following the bottom of the third inning, but resumed shortly thereafter.
The Eagles next host Oregon Tech this Friday (Jan. 29), starting at 2 p.m. at Eagle Field.
I should have explained it better.
