OAKLAND, Calif. – The CUI baseball team opened PacWest play against Academy of Art this weekend, winning three of four games to come away with the series win. The No. 23 Eagles now hold a 9-4-1 record on the season and will likely remain toward the top of the NCBWA's next regional poll on Wednesday.
Game 1: CUI 2, ART U 3
Pitching dominated the opening game of the series, with both starters throwing at least seven innings. CUI starter
Evan Larsen struck out eight batters in 7.0 innings while only surrendering two earned runs and two walks.
Colton Bulger relieved Larsen, not giving up a hit in the eighth inning. Bulger holds a 0.00 ERA on the season with a team-best 0.86 WHIP, only giving up one hit in 4.2 innings of work to start the year.
With the score tied 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth, the Urban Knights were able to walk-off on a sac fly to right field.
Academy of Art's starting pitcher, Collin Carriger, silenced the CUI batters, throwing a complete game while striking out 16. The senior only surrendered three hits and two earned runs on 130 pitches to earn the win for the Urban Knights.
Game 2: CUI 7, ART U 1
Riley O'Sullivan once again turned in an impressive performance on the mound, earning his second win of the season. The Southwestern College transfer struck out nine batters while only allowing one earned run on six hits. He now sports a 2.04 ERA on the season while leading the team with 17.2 innings pitched in three starts.
Noah McBride relieved O'Sullivan with two outs in the eighth inning, immediately striking out the first man he faced on three pitches. McBride would go on to strike out the side in the top of the ninth as well, closing out the game for the Eagles to split the doubleheader.
Junior
Michael Dixon powered the offense in the second game on Saturday, recording a 2-run double in the seventh inning and a 3-run home run in the ninth, totaling 5 RBI.
Shane Wallace collected both a double and an RBI triple in the game as well, improving his average to a team-best .474 on the season.
Game 3: CUI 21, ART U 4
Eagles dominated the third game of the series on Sunday morning, scoring in all but two frames in the game.
The Green & Gold offense exploded for 21 runs, putting up five crooked numbers as a result of eight multi-hit performances.
Richard Castro got the Eagles out to an early lead with a 2-run home run in the second inning, quickly followed by another Castro homer in the third inning. Castro would finish the game with 5 RBI, tying Dixon's performance from Saturday for the season high.
Hayden Winters and
Philip Quartararo each launched their first home runs of the season in the sixth and ninth innings, respectively. Both swings drove in three runs and continued to put the game far out of reach for the Urban Knights.
Michael Dixon continued tearing the cover off the ball, going 3-for-4 with a home run and a stolen base in the game. Dixon leads the Eagles in many categories, including batting average (.327), hits (18), total bases (28), and at-bats (55).
Starter
Mason Metcalfe and reliever
Jamison King combined to pitch all 9.0 innings in the game, allowing only four runs to score. King did not allow a single hit in his 3.0 innings of work, facing the minimum number of batters possible.
Game 4: CUI 9, ART U 2
CUI finished the series strong, pouring on nine runs in the second game of the doubleheader to make it an even 30 runs on the day.
Outfielder
Shane Wallace hit his first home run of the season in the top of the second inning to extend the Eagles' lead to 4-0. In the top of the fourth, Winters doubled down the left field line to score
Nathan Benefeito and make the score 6-0.
The final blow came when
Tristan Hanoian doubled in the fifth inning, scoring three runners to give CUI a commanding 9-0 lead.
Matt Des Marets was masterful on the mound for the Eagles, only allowing two earned runs in 6.1 innings on 90 pitches. The freshman also struck out 11 batters, putting him at second on the team with 18 on the season. After Des Marets got into some trouble in the final inning,
Tristan Perrin came recorded the final two outs of the game to close the door on the series.
"To go on the road and win a series is always special," said Head Coach Joe Turgeon. "We learned a lot about ourselves this weekend and showed that we are coming together as a team. The coaching staff did a great job getting the guys ready the last two weeks and I couldn't be more proud of the entire group."
Concordia now set their eyes on one of the biggest series of the year against No. 5 Point Loma, who currently holds a 13-1 record on the season. The two nationally-ranked teams will play two games in San Diego on Saturday, March 5, followed by two games in Irvine on Monday, March 7.
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