Baseball Spring Trip Leads to First Win of Season
Saint Bonifacius, Minn – The Crown College baseball team spent their spring break in Nebraska and Kansas for their first five games of the 2010 season. On Saturday, March 12th, 2010 the Storm took on Hastings College. This was the 6th game of the year for Hastings while this marked the season opener for the Storm. The result was a rough affair for the Storm as they gave up 5 runs in the bottom of the first inning en route to a 12-0 loss in seven innings. The Storm were looking at the wrong end of a no-hitter until the final inning when junior catcher Nick Garrard singled to break up the no-hitter.
On Sunday, the Storm played two against Hastings College and led 2-0 heading into the bottom of the sixth inning as sophomore lefty Isaiah Jensen had a four-hitter going into the inning. Jensen struggled with his control all game and it came back to hurt him in the bottom of the sixth, as Hastings loaded the bases on multiple walks from Jensen. Hastings’ DH, Rivera, hit a grand slam to win the game 6-2, dropping the Storm to 0-2 on the young season. In the second game of the double-header the pitching continued to be strong for the Storm as junior Nicholas Garrard stepped out from behind the plate to start the game for the Storm and held Hastings to 1 run over the first five innings of the game. Unfortunately for the Storm, the bats never woke up and they were limited to just four hits. In the sixth inning, Hastings added three runs to make the final 4-0.
Crown traveled to McPherson, KS to take on Central Christian College on Tuesday, March 16th. With the score tied 1-1, the Storm added three runs in the top of third and top of the fourth innings to take the lead for good at 7-5. They scored a single run in the top of the fifth and sixth innings to earn their first win of the season, 9-5. Freshman Kyle Knox picked up the victory with a complete game in which he gave up five runs on eight hits over seven innings. Steve Boger led the way for the Storm going 3-4 with 2 RBI. In the second game of the double-header the two teams were tied 0-0 heading into the bottom of the third inning when Central Christian College exploded for eight runs. They added two more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning to win the game 10-0. The lone hit for the Storm came off the bat of left-fielder Brandon Nicholas.
The Storm is back in action next on Tuesday, March 30th with a double-header against Finlandia University at Watertown Field in Watertown, Minn. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00pm.
