TUCSON, Ariz. – Standout middle relief efforts by a pair of freshmen paired with clutch hitting sent the University of Mary baseball team home with a 10-8 win over Cornell College in the Marauders tenth and final game at the Tucson Invitational. U-Mary opened its last day in the desert with a 5-3 non-conference loss to Northern State University.
GAME 1: Northern State 5 U-Mary 3
One timely blast allowed Northern State University (2-3 overall) to edge the University of Mary (1-12) 5-3.
U-Mary's
Michael Vollrath and NSU's James Georgakas locked up in a pitchers dual through the first four innings as each hurler allowed just a single run through the first four innings.
Set up by a leadoff double, a one out walk and then a two-out free pass, Wolves first baseman Riley Shintaffer crushed a double to deep center field. His shot cleared the bases and boosted the Wolves lead to 4-1.
The Marauders pulled within 4-3 in the sixth on a
Mason Schiff run-scoring single with a second run scoring during a rundown on the bases.
Vollrath gave up a one-out solo home run in the seventh to Clayton Nutting to improve the Wolves advantage to 5-3. The shot ended a strong showing by the U-Mary senior lefthander. Vollrath struck out seven, walked three allowed nine hits in 6.1 innings.
Dillon Lee pitched the final thee innings for the Wolves, limiting the Marauders to one hit while striking out four. The lone U-Mary baserunner against Lee was eliminated on a double play ball.
Seth Meide led the Marauders with two hits in four at bats.
Shintaffer had two hits and three RBIs for NSU.
GAME 2: U-Mary 10 Cornell College 8
Freshmen
Austin Ell and
Kenny Slominski combined to allow just one unearned run in five innings of relief and U-Mary held off a late charge by the Rams (0-1) in a 10-8 Marauders victory.
Taking advantage of Cornell errors, U-Mary scored once in the first and three times in the second to build a 4-0 lead.
Andrew Beyer walked to start the game and came home on an error by the Rams third baseman. In the second, an RBI single by
Trenten Hove scored
Drew Feuerbach to start a three-run outburst. A double steal allowed Hove to claim second with Imholte crossing the plate. A defensive miscue on a grounded by Beyer then allowed Hove to score.
The Rams rebounded by pushing across three runs in the bottom of the second climb within 4-3.
Forced to go to the bullpen, Ell came on to start the third inning. The freshman lefty kept the Rams off the scoreboard in the third and allowed a single unearned run in the fourth to knot the game at 4-4. He followed up with two more scoreless innings.
The Marauders broke the deadlock in a big way in the seventh, striking for six runs. A
Brett Doepker single scored the first run before a throwing error brought home the second. Another run-scoring single by Hove plated the third run before Beyer followed with an RBI ground out to short.
Seth Meide capped the rally with a two-run single, increasing the Marauders lead to 10-4.
After Ell allowed two Rams singles to start the eight,
Kenny Slominski was summoned from the pen. The freshman righty immediately gave up a double but the lead runner was thrown out at home. Two more outs quickly followed to keep Cornell off the board.
Zach Steckler came out to pitch the eighth for the Marauders and was touched for four runs, though just two were earned. Returning to the mound in the ninth with a 10-8 lead, Steckler retired the Rams in order to close out the win.
Three Marauders posted three hits each in the game.
Drew Feuerbach finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Hove was 3-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored.
Sean Hennen was 3-for-6 and a run scored.
Ell picked up his first collegiate win by tossing four innings and allowing just four hits, one walk and one unearned run. Slominski allowed one hit and no runs in his one inning.
Beriah Quick led the Cornell offense by going 3-for-4 at the plate. He drove in two runs and scored once. Joe Gerace and John Tesenky each had two hits and two RBIs.
The Marauders next face nationally-ranked Minnesota State University in a four game set on the road to open Northern Sun action on March 21-22.
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