CHANDLER, AZ – A clutch hit and impressive pitching lifted the University of Mary baseball team to a win in the season opener and a split of the day at the 4Him Classic.
Daulton Sauce drove in a pair of first-inning runs and
Nicholas Stobbe and
Travis Stevens combined to allow one unearned run in a 5-1 win over Colorado Christian University.
Mary fell 9-0 in game two to Benedictine University Mesa.
Facing their first live pitching of the season,
Chris Scott and
Connor Doll worked their way aboard by walks in the first inning. With both runners in scoring position after a wild pitch, Sauce cracked a double to score Scott and courtesy runner
Cody Ghents. An error on the Cougars third baseman the placed Sauce.
Drew Feuerbach was hit by a pitch and eventually scored on a wild pitch.
Provided a 4-0 lead before even taking the mound, Stobbe, the Marauders starting pitcher, took full advantage after a shaky start. Stobbe allowed the first two CCU hitters, the first on a single and the next when the Mary senior plunked him with a pitch. After a wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position, Stobbe popped up the three-hole hitter to Sauce at short, struck out the cleanup hitter and closed the inning with a fly ball to Feuerbach in right field.
Mary added its fifth run in the second inning.
Will Pettener earned a walk and came around to score on a wild pitch.
Stobbe lived dangerously the next three innings but refused to give up a run. He gave up two hits in each of the second, third and fourth innings but stranded everyone, including a bases full situation in the third.
The Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, native allowed seven hits and one walk while striking out two in four shutout inning to earn the win.
Stevens came on in the fifth and allowed an unearned run before closing the door in the final two innings to earn a save.
Sauce finished the opener 2-for-4 with a double, two RBIs and a run scored. Six other Marauders also had hits, including a triple by Scott and a double by
Seth Meide.
The Marauders strong pitching carried over into the early innings of the second game as starter
Charles Bielejeski kept the Redhawks off the board in the first two innings.
Mary had a chance to take an early lead in the second but Pettener was thrown out at the plate attempting to score on a fly out to center.
Benedictine broke through in the third with three runs, the first two on a home run by Travis Hunt. The Redhawks put the game out of reach with six runs in the fourth with all but one run unearned after an error and a passed ball.
Feuerbach registered half the Marauders hits in the game, finishing a perfect 3-for-3. Sauce also added a hit, his third on the day.
Kenny Slominski and
Will Karrer both pitched a scoreless inning of relief for Mary, and each picked up a strikeout.
Mary is 1-1 on the season and next faces The Master's College on Saturday, Feb. 4, at 9:30 AM on the final day of the inaugural 4Him Classic. The Marauders will also have a game later on the day against a foe determined by the overall standings.
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