[Baseball] Baseball Falcons split with Braves
WICHITA, Kan. – The Friends University Falcons and the Ottawa University Braves split a doubleheader today (Mar. 25), with the Falcons taking the opening tilt 6-3 and the Braves rebounding to win the rubber game of the series 3-2 at West Side Athletic Field.
The Falcons were behind by a run in the opener until Sam Engberg (JR/Kearney, Neb. ) chased home Devon Lujan (SO/Olathe, Kan.) in the fourth to make it 3-3.
The sixth inning then saw the Falcons plate two runs to go ahead, one when Engberg scored on a balk and another tally on a wild pitch that plated courtesy runner Melwin Perez (SO/San Sebastian, Puerto Rico).
Lujan then singled in Pablo Oden (SR/Hollywood, Fla.) to tack on another run for the Falcons in the seventh.
Following an RBI single by Cole Broughton in the first that put Ottawa in front, Oliver Dunn (SO/Endeavour Hills, Australia) answered with a two-run single in the bottom of the inning to put the Falcons on top.
Ottawa tied the score in the second and then regained the lead on a sacrifice fly by Zachary Spradlin in the fourth.
The hits were even at 11-11, with Oden, Lujan, Dunn and Engberg each delivering two hits for Friends.
Nicholas Sizemore went 3-of-3 in the first game for the Braves.
Daniel Jaime (SO/Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) delivered a quality start for the Falcons, going six innings and giving up three runs with three strikeouts to earn his third victory of the season.
Keagan Alejo (SO/Waco, Texas) and Matt Postier (SO/Wichita, Kan.) followed Jaime with an important scoreless inning in relief before Vincent Vigil (FR/Tampa, Fla. ) shut the door in the ninth for his sixth save of the season.
Much like the opener, the Falcons bettered the Braves' run in the first inning with two in the bottom of the frame, this time on a two-run double by Lujan that plated Niquan Benjamin (SO/US Virgin Islands) and Buster Hardman (JR/American Fork, Utah).
But that would be all the scoring for the Falcons, while Spradlin drove in two runs for Ottawa, including an RBI single in the fifth that proved to be the winning tally.
Dunn had two hits in the nightcap for the Falcons (14-15, 8-7 KCAC), with Spradlin going 2-of-3 with two RBIs for the Braves (20-12, 8-7 KCAC).
Matthew Benton (SO/Hobart, Ind.) started and allowed three runs and fanned two batters in five innings of work. Postier then came on again and tossed two more scoreless frames.
Camerson Sistrunk entered the game in the second for Ottawa and pitched 2.1 shutout innings to get the win, with Caden Gray going the final 2.2 innings to pick up the save.
The Falcons will next be at Southwestern College Tuesday afternoon (Mar. 28) for a single-game at 2 pm in Winfield, Kan.