CU starter Jon Yearout had a no-hitter through 6.1 innings against George Fox on Saturday.
Cavs Cruise to 13-0 Win over George Fox at Cascade-Northwest Challenge
BOX SCORE - Concordia vs. George Fox
PORTLAND—Little went wrong for the Concordia baseball team at the Cascade-Northwest Challenge on Saturday as the Cavs beat George Fox 13-0 with pitchers Jon Yearout, Blake Evetts and Christian Bannister combining for a one-hit shutout.
The win evened the Cavs record for the season at 6-6, while George Fox dropped to 6-4.
Yearout pitched seven of the nine shutout innings on Saturday, giving up only one hit and two walks, while striking out 10. Yearout had a no-hitter through 6.1 innings, too, and then only gave up a single.
“Yearout was phenomenal today,” CU head coach Rob Vance said. “His performance helped the whole team as by the time he gave up a hit, we led 6-0.”
Yearout had to settle in after a rough start to the game, though, as the Bruins got two on with one out in the first, then loaded the bases with only one out in the second. Yearout and the Cavalier defense got out of it both times, however, with Yearout ending the first with a strikeout and the defense coming up with a big force out at home in the second.
Yearout pitched better over the middle innings, then, allowing just two George Fox players to reach base from the third to the sixth innings.
The Cavalier offense, meanwhile, broke through in the bottom of the third when Cole Shidaki doubled in Blake Drake for the game’s first run after Drake led the inning off with a double down the right-field line.
The Cavs then added three runs in the next innings, scoring the first when George Fox starter Tom Zarosinski sailed a throw to first on a sacrifice bunt from the Cavs’ Ben Talbot. Zarosinski’s throw allowed the Cavs’ Ryne Briley to score, while Talbot and CJ Watson advanced to second and third on the play, respectively. Zarosinski hit the next batter, too, loading the bases with still no outs in the inning. Zarosinski settled down to strike out the next two CU batters, but then gave up two more runs when the Cavs’ Jordan Keeker singled to left.
“Zarosinski is a good pitcher for the Bruins, but the guys just kept pecking and pecking away at him, forcing him into long at bats and we eventually got to him,” Vance said.
The Cavs went up 6-0 with two more runs in the bottom of the fifth after Jared Young and Briley led the inning off with back-to-back doubles. Briley’s double scored Young for the first run of the inning, while Jimmy Sanchez plated Briley with a two-out infield single to third.
The Cavalier offense then capped the night with a seven-run eighth inning where every batter in the order reached base safely at some point in the inning. By the end of the eighth, the Cavs led 13-0, giving Christian Bannister little stress as he closed it out in the ninth.
The 13-0 win was the Cavs’ second straight game scoring 10 runs or more after the Cavs opened the Cascade-Northwest Challenge with a 10-2 win over Willamette on Thursday.
Individually, Keeker, Shidaki, Sanchez and Brennon Mossholder all had two runs batted in for the Cavs on Saturday. Besides them, Drake led the Cavs with three hits in the game, while Watson led the Cavs with two runs scored.
The Cavs will look to continue their hot batting tomorrow, Feb. 24, when they wrap up the Cascade-Northwest Challenge with games against Pacific Lutheran and Puget Sound at 1 and 4 p.m., respectively. Corban and Pacific Lutheran will also play a neutral-site game at Porter Park tomorrow at 10 a.m.