ALMAEDA, Calif. – The Concordia University Irvine baseball team split Friday's doubleheader against Academy of Art, taking three of four games in this week's series against the Urban Knights.
 
In Game 1, the Eagles quickly fell behind 1-0 in the first inning on a RBI groundout from AAU. Neither team would score in the second inning, however, CUI would tie the game in the third when Matt Lautz reached base on an error by the second baseman, scoring Chris Martin II.
 
The Green & Gold bats cooled off for the next four innings, collecting only one hit off the bat of Jeff Pellegrino in the fourth. During this stretch, Academy of Art was able to push three more runs across on a RBI double, wild pitch, and RBI single, giving them a 4-1 lead headed into the top of the eighth.
 
The eighth inning started off with a Haloa Dudoit single to center field, his 243^rd hit of his career. The Hawaii native continues to climb the CUI all-time hit list, trailing behind Kyle Konicek (249) and Gregg Davidson (247). Within a few pitches of reaching first, Dudoit advanced to second base on a wild pitch followed by Lautz reaching on a hit by pitch. Jair Donovan loaded the bases with a single to third base, allowing Bailey Collins to step up to the plate with no outs.
 
On the second pitch of the at-bat, trailing by a score of 4-1, Collins launched a ball deep to right field for a grand slam, giving the Eagles a late 5-4 lead. This home run brings his career total to 31, closing in on Derek Patterson (35) and Matt Ross (32) for the all-time CUI home run record. The Eagles would tack on another run in the inning making the score 6-4, when Nathan Benefeito scored on a balk by the pitcher.

In the top of the ninth, Lautz tripled to left center field scoring Martin II and extending the lead to 7-4. However, the Urban Knights were not ready to give up, as they hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the game at 7-7.
 
In the top of the 11^th, the Eagles would regain the lead with a Benefeito RBI single, scoring Lautz from second. Pellegrino would then single to left field, his third hit of the game, scoring Jair Donovan and giving CUI a 9-7 lead. In the bottom of the ninth, Andrew Pinedo closed the door, earning his first career save and giving CUI their third win of the series.
 
Starting pitcher Evan Larsen struck out nine batters in 5.1 innings pitched in Game 1. Carpenter Pagett threw 3.0 innings in relief, striking out five batters of his own. Nathaniel Tapia followed Pagett, allowing zero hits in 1.2 innings and earning the win.
 

"Quality baseball always starts on the mound. We threw a ton of quality pitches this weekend and gave the team a great chance to be successful. As a team we continued to play each pitch with a competitive positive mindset no matter the game threw at us." - Head Coach Joe Turgeon

 
In Game 2, AAU got out to an early lead with a RBI single in the first inning off of starting pitcher Cole Spear. The Urban Knights later scored in the fifth inning on another RBI single, accounting for the only two runs scored in the game. Despite receiving the loss, Spear turned in a quality start for the Eagles, going 5.0 innings with six strikeouts and only allowing two earned runs. Chase Lyford relieved Spear in the sixth inning, collecting three flyouts on just four pitches.
 
The Eagle offense was shut down in Game 2 by AAU starter Collin Carriger. Dudoit (244), Lautz, and Pellegrino were each able to collect a single, but were unable to string together any runs. In total, CUI struck out 14 times as the AAU starter threw a complete game shutout.

The Eagles return to action on Monday as they continue their game against Biola that was originally suspended due to darkness on April 24^th. That game will pick up in the eighth inning with a tied score of 2-2. Since that game was originally scheduled to be seven innings, they will be in extra innings when they resume play.

CLICK HERE for the full 2021 CUI baseball schedule.

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