[Baseball] Baseball Falcons explode in game one, settle for split with Tabor

WICHITA, Kan. – The Friends University Falcons bats came alive on Senior Day to score their most runs in over a calendar year in defeating the Tabor College Bluejays 19-9 in the first game of a doubleheader today (Apr. 29) on the final day of the regular season at West Side Athletic Field. The 19 runs are the most scored by the Falcons since winning 20-5 over the University of Saint Mary back on Mar. 5 in 2022.

With the Falcons splitting with Tabor and York University being swept by McPherson College, the Falcons will advance to next week's KCAC postseason tournament in Great Bend, Kan. with another York loss tomorrow at McPherson.

The Falcons used the long ball to break things open, starting with a mammoth two-run homer by Pablo Oden (SR/Hollywood, Fla.) that knocked out half of the scoreboard.

Niquan Benjamin (SO/US Virgin Islands) then went back-to-back with Oden with a homer to straightaway center before Dakota Harding (JR/Wichita, Kan.) and Zeke Henson (SO/Raymore, Mo. ) each doubled in a run during the Falcons eight-run first inning that resulted in an 8-1 cushion.

After a sacrifice fly by Sam Engberg (JR/Kearney, Neb. ) and a two-run single by Henson ballooned the lead up to 11-1, the Bluejays mounted a charge with eight of the game's next nine runs, finished by a three-run homer by Trotter Boston that made it a three-run game in the fourth.

The Falcons were undeterred though and fought back with a sacrifice fly from Buster Hardman (JR/American Fork, Utah) along with an RBI single from Oden in the fourth and then a solo homer by Engberg that hooked just inside the left field foul pole in the fifth.

Then in the seventh, an RBI single by Devon Lujan (SO/Olathe, Kan.) and a two-run single from Oliver Dunn (SO/Endeavour Hills, Australia) closed out a three-run frame to give the Falcons the walk-off victory by the run-rule.

The Falcons enjoyed across the board production in the first game victory, with Henson going a perfect 5-of-5 with three runs scored and three RBIs. Benjamin went 4-of-4 with two runs and a pair of RBIs, while Oden also had four hits in six at-bats with three runs driven in and three runs scored.

Dunn went 3-of-5 with three RBIs, while Engberg also drove in three runs for the Falcons. Hardman doubled twice, with Harding and Caleb Coats (SO/Katy, Texas) each recording a pair of hits.  Eric Reeder (SO/Goddard, Kan.) and Ryan Sylvester (SO/Tallahassee, Fla) scored two runs apiece.

Daniel Jaime (SO/Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) followed starter Matthew Benton (SO/Hobart, Ind.) and pitched the final four innings, allowing two earned runs with two strikeouts to be credited with the win.

The nightcap was a much different story, as the Bluejays won 5-1 behind six strong innings from starter Quintin Holman. Holman gave up just one run while scattering five hits to get the win.

An RBI single by Lujan in the bottom of the first put the Falcons on top, but Jackie Jimenez tied it with a solo homer in the second before a two-run homer by Cody Moore in the third and a solo blast from Brayden Whitchurch in the fifth provided the Bluejays with all the runs they needed to close out the win.

Drake Girard pitched a scoreless seventh inning to finish off the game for Tabor.

The Falcons wrap up the regular season with a 23-24 overall record and a 17-16 mark in the KCAC.

York plays at McPherson tomorrow (Apr. 30) starting at 2 pm in McPherson, Kan.