The freshmen on this year's Concordia Baseball Team are proving that they are a force to be reckoned with, and freshman
Bailey Collins showed that today. The Eagles used a huge ninth inning to come from behind and complete the four-game sweep of the Hawai'i Pacific Sharks.
Collin Orellana had a solid start on the mound for the Eagles, but the Sharks put up the first runs of the game in the top of the fifth inning. An error allowed two unearned runs to come around before a diving catch from
Ryan Land in left field got the Eagles out of the inning.
The Eagles got a run back in their half of the fifth.
Tony Garcia notched the first hit of the game for CUI with a single into right field. A sacrifice bunt from
Chris Martin advanced him to second and Land sent an RBI single into left.
Continuing what was started in the fifth,
Jair Donovan led off the bottom of the sixth with a double to the right field corner. Collins came to the plate and knocked Donovan in to tie the game at two.
Morgan Brannock took over in relief in the top of the seventh. An Eagle error loaded the bases for HPU, but a huge strikeout from Brannock got them out of the jam.
A few hits and a sacrifice fly gave the Sharks a 3-2 lead in the top of the eighth.
Cade Temple took over on the mound in the top of the ninth as Hawai'i Pacific struck for two more to take a 5-2 lead into the bottom of the ninth.
Land drew a two out walk, keeping the game alive for Concordia. An error by the HPU shortstop allowed Dudoit to reach second and advance Land to third. A wild pitch brought Land around as the Eagles chipped away at the Shark lead. Donovan drew a walk to put two on with two out for Collins. Collins fell behind in the count 0-2 as the Eagles found themselves down to their last strike. As everyone held their breath, Collins ended the game with a drive over the fence in right center. His second home run in two games, the three-run blast put the Eagles up 6-5.
Collins ended the game going 2-3 with four RBIs, including the game tying run in the sixth and the game winning in the bottom of the ninth. He also walked and was hit by a pitch. He finished the four game series going 8-13 for a .615 batting average. He drove in a total of nine runs.
With the sweep of Hawai'i Pacific, the Eagles improve to 17-15 and 14-6 in PacWest play.
Concordia takes the field again in a double header with Point Loma in San Diego on Friday starting at 12 p.m. They return home to complete the series with the Sea Lions on Saturday.
