Sunday, the Marian University Ancilla baseball team traveled to Detroit, Michigan, to take on Community Christian College in a double-header. The Chargers trailed 1-0 after the first inning of the first game, and never trailed again the rest of the afternoon. The Chargers are off to a solid start, evening their record at 3-3; last season they began 0-13 and didn't see their third win until March 26th. Below is a quick recap from each game this past weekend.
GAME-1: In the bottom of the 1st inning, the Chargers allowed a leadoff walk that turned into a "triple" following a wild pitch and a stolen base. Community Christian then hit into a groundout, scoring their leadoff runner to make it 1-0. From there it was all Chargers. In the top of the 3rd, Sophomore James Riddle grounded into a fielder's choice, then later came around to score on a 2-out single to center by Sophomore Kennon Kemp. In the top of the 5th inning, Sophomore Blaze Schultz singled with one out. With two outs, Riddle tripled to right to score Schultz. Kemp then scored Riddle on a groundball single to short, then stole second base two pitches later. Freshman Aiden Diaz lined to center, scoring Kemp, then advanced to second base on the throw, and the Chargers led 4-1 heading into the bottom of the 5th. Community Christian got something going in the bottom of the 5th with two outs, scoring a run and cutting the MUAC lead to 4-2. In the top of the 6th, Sophomore Rudy Ramos drove in a pair with a 2-out double, then in the 7th inning Sophomore Austin Hear tacked on another run with a 2-out double of his own, polishing off a nice 7-2 win for the Chargers. Sophomore pitcher Nathan Marshman evened his record at 1-1 with 4 2/3 solid innings that included 6 strikeouts, and Freshmen Jacob Hobbs & Cooper Gorgievski polished off all seven batters they face, with each striking out a pair.
GAME-2: The second game of the afternoon was controlled by the Chargers from beginning to end, winning 9-1. Freshman pitcher Jaden Franceschina (1-1) was outstanding on the bump, pitching 6 strong innings, striking out 8 batters, and allowing just 1 run which was unearned. Sophomore Nolan Green finished the game striking out all three batters he faced in the 7th inning on just 12 total pitches. As for the offense, Hear scored Diaz on a sacrifice fly in the top of the 1st, giving the Chargers an early 1-0 lead. They added two more in the top of the 2nd, as Kemp drove in Schultz on a double, and then Diaz drove in Kemp on a double of his own after fighting off three foul balls. Hear continued his strong play at the plate, tripling to lead off the 3rd, then scoring when Sophomore Tyler Bumbalough grounded out two batters later. The bats came alive again in the top of the 5th, as the Chargers hit four singles and a double, scoring 4 more runs to extend to an 8-0 margin. Once again in the top of the 6th, Austin Hear was the culprit, driving in Sophomore Conner Boone on a 2-2 single to left. Community Christian found the plate once in the bottom of the 6th, creating the final score of 9-1, before the Chargers returned to campus.
NOTE: In addition to his strong production at bat (.389, 2 2Bs, 1 3B, 4 RBIs), Sophomore catcher Austin Hear has been outstanding behind the plate as well, throwing out half of the runners who have attempted to steal against him this season.
The Chargers now head to the Orlando area for Spring Break, as they are set to play 8 games in 6 days at the RussMatt Invitational. Good luck Charger Baseball!!
