Young Leads Cavs to Split with Walk-Off Single in 10th
BOX SCORE - GAME 1 - GAME 2
PORTLAND—Jared Young hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th of the first game Saturday to lead the Concordia baseball team to a split in its doubleheader against Menlo at Porter Park.
Young’s hit scored Cole Shidaki from second on the play, giving the Cavs a 4-3 win in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader. Young’s game-winner capped a comeback from a 3-0 deficit for the Cavs, the sixth time this season the Cavs have come back after trailing in the sixth inning or later. The Cavs also moved to 2-0 in extra-inning games this season with the win.
The Oaks bounced back behind starting pitcher Derek Martinez in the second game, however, beating the Cavs 4-1 to earn the split.
The Cavs now stand 20-22 overall and 11-12 in the NAIA West for the season, while the Oaks stand 26-16 overall and 15-8 in the NAIA West.
The teams will conclude their four-game series tomorrow, Sunday, April 14, with a single game starting at 11 a.m.
Game 1—Concordia 4, Menlo 3 (10 inn.)
Senior Jared Young hit a one-out single to left-center field to score Cole Shidaki from second for the game-winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning of the Cavs’ 4-3 win over Menlo on Saturday.
Shidaki reached second after leading the bottom of the 10th off with a single before moving up on a sacrifice bunt from Carl Beckert.
The game-winning run capped a comeback for the Cavaliers after Menlo ran out to a 3-0 lead after the top of the third. Menlo took the 3-0 lead behind a single run in the top of the first and two more in the top of the third.
Menlo scored its run in the top of the first after catcher Daniel Comstock singled in leadoff hitter Mickey Phelps from second. An error to open the third then charged the Oaks’ rally in the inning, as the Oaks scored both of their runs with two outs in the inning, after the inning should have been over.
The Cavs started their comeback right after that, though, scoring one run in the bottom of the third to cut the Menlo lead to 3-1. C.J. Watson doubled with one out to start the rally, then came home during the next at bat as Cole Shidaki reached on an error.
The Cavs then tied the game with single runs in the bottom of the fifth and sixth innings. Shidaki plated Blake Drake for the Cavs’ run in the fifth, while Jimmy Sanchez doubled in Jordan Keeker for the team’s run in the sixth.
Both teams settled in from there, as neither team strung two hits in an inning after that until the Cavs’ rally in the bottom of the 10th.
Overall, both starting pitchers went deep into the game for their respective teams, as CU starter Jon Yearout pitched 8.2 innings, while Menlo starter James Jensen pitched nine full innings.
Yearout eventually gave way to Blake Evetts in the ninth, and Evetts pitched a perfect 1.1 innings of relief to pick up the win. Evetts has now given up only one hit in his last five appearances, and has not given up a run of any kind in that time either.
Offensively, Keeker went 3-for-4 with a run scored in the game for the Cavs, while Shidaki finished 3-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI. For Menlo, four different players went 2-for-5 in the game in Kyer Vega, Corey Metoyer, Comstock and Cox.
Game 2—Menlo 4, Concordia 1
One bad inning cost the Cavs in the second game of the doubleheader Saturday, as Menlo scored all four of its runs in the top of the second to run past the Cavs, 4-1.
Errors cost the Cavs in the inning, as two misplays helped fuel the Oaks after they loaded the bases with one out in the second.
The four-run second gave starting pitcher Derek Martinez plenty of cushion, as he held the Cavs to just one run in the game despite giving up nine hits.
The Cavs frequently got runners on base against Martinez, but the Oaks’ pitcher consistently got out of the jams unscathed. Martinez first got out of a jam in the bottom of the second when the Cavs loaded the bases with only one out in the inning. Martinez struck out the next Cavalier batter, however, then got leadoff hitter Blake Drake to fly out to left to end the inning.
The Cavs also got runners on the corners with one out in the fourth, but Menlo shortstop Coleman Cox made a leaping, snow cone catch on a line drive from Sanchez, while Martinez picked off Cole Buruse from first to record the final two outs of the inning.
Concordia finally broke through in the bottom of the seventh when Christian Lichtenthaler hit a pinch-hit sacrifice fly to center that scored Buruse from third. The Cavs could have scored more in the second, as a wild pitch after Lichtenthaler’s sacrifice put runners on second and third with only one out, but Martinez got the next two batters to strike out and ground out to end the inning.
Martinez ended the game with the win, while Kyer Vega, who had given up the walk-off run in the first game, picked up a save after pitching a perfect ninth inning. CU starter Jason Snodgrass, meanwhile, picked up the loss despite pitching effectively after giving up the big inning in the second.
Offensively, Buruse went 3-for-4 with a run scored for the Cavs, while senior Nathan Douglas went 2-for-4 from the plate. For Menlo, Cox and Jimmy Bosco each went 2-for-4 in the game, while Cox also scored a run for the Oaks.