Thursday, April 2
Riverside
3 PM
California Baptist University
14
vs
2
Hawaii-Hilo
Photo by: Lauren Garcia
Vulcans Vanquished
4/2/2015 5:57:00 PM | Baseball
RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- With its season-long homestand coming to a close, California Baptist University wanted to give its fans something to remember it by. The Lancers did that with a doubleheader sweep of visiting Hawaii Hilo Thursday in PacWest action, with the finale win coming in walk-off fashion.
CBU opened the series with a 14-2 win and closed out the day with a dramatic, 9-8, walk-off victory keyed by clutch two-out hits from A.J. David, Stephen Lohr and a leadoff double from Alec Morabito in the bottom of the ninth. The Lancers move to 18-14, 10-4 in conference with the wins. The Vulcans are now 6-23, 4-18.
Not only did Lohr go 4-for-7 with four runs batted in on the day, but he delivered the final big blow of the night to give CBU the wild walk-off win. It is Lohr's second walk-off hit this season, with his other coming against Cal Poly Pomona on Feb. 27th.
After a topsy-turvy first eight-and-a-half innings in the nightcap, the Lancers went into the bottom of the ninth in an 8-6 hole. Morabito kick started the offense with a leadoff double into right field to start the inning. Andy Crowley, who went 5-for-9 on the day, moved Morabito to third with a long fly ball to the center field warning track.
"Alec did a great job getting on base, first of all," David said. "He's really the guy that sparked the whole thing. If we don't get him on our chance of winning is low."
Antonio Chavarria hit his way aboard with a single into right field to put runners at the corners, with Steven Pena replacing Chavarria on the base paths. Taylor Wetzel plated Morabito with a sacrifice fly to right field as the Vulcans threatened to end the inning with two outs.
In need of a hit to keep the game alive, David delivered when he lined a shot over the right fielder's head and to the fence, scoring Pena from first to tie the game at 8-8.
"I knew I was going to get a swing in the ninth inning, I just did my best to hit it hard," David said. "Luckily, I got a good enough piece of it to get it over his head. Off the bat, I knew it was over him, I was confident in my piece of it."
From there, Lohr was not going to let it go extras, smashing a shot to deep center. The fielder attempted to make a basket catch but was unable to haul it in, as David scored to end the game.
"I was trying to keep it on a line, like coach says," Lohr said. "Luckily, it was hit far enough to make him run around. I thought he caught it when I hit first base but then I saw he dropped it.
"I love being in those situations, it's a lot of fun."
David was the hottest of all the Lancers Thursday, going 6-for-10 with five runs scored, three RBI, two doubles and a home run to slug 1.100. In the finale, he was 4-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Nathan Antoun went 4-for-9 overall with three doubles, a triple and six RBIs. Chavarria and Luke Navigato each went 3-for-7.
Stephen Carajabal got the win in Thursday's finale after recording the last two outs in the top of the ninth, striking out both batters he faced. Patrick Gonzales also pitched two-thirds of an inning not allowing a base runner.
"That last game was just a battlefield," Lohr said, "it was good to come out with the win."
In the opener, Tyson Miller threw seven innings in which he allowed just four base runners, without walking a batter. Travis Booth closed out the game with two scoreless frames on the mound, striking out two and putting just one runner on with a walk.
Six Lancers had multi-hit games in the opener, led by Crowley's 4-for-6 performance. Lohr (2-2), Navigato (2-4), Morabito (2-5), Antoun (2-5) and David (2-5) each had two hits for CBU.
Antoun helped the Lancers score five of their first six runs with a two-RBI triple in the first inning and bases-loaded double in the second inning. Jake Gallaway, Morabito and Crowley set the table in the second with three-straight singles to start the frame. Both bases-clearing hits from Antoun were sent into the same location in left center.
Lohr lined a single into center field to score Antoun and give the home team a 3-0 lead in the first. In the second, Navigato doubled home two runs and Wetzel scored one more with a sacrifice fly into right, which upped the advantage to 9-0.
In the fourth inning, Lohr and Morabito logged RBI singles and Crowley doubled home another run of his own, which ballooned the cushion to 12-0. David blasted a leadoff, solo homer in the fifth to give the Lancers the first 13 runs of the game.
Despite having plenty of runs for a win, CBU was not content after Hawaii Hilo got on the board with two runs in the eighth. A trio of pinch hitters manufactured the Lancers final run. Brian Ruhm led off with a double and DJ Porter singled into center to put runners at first and second. Jeremy Steggell drove in the final run with a two-out single into right field.
The four-game series with the Vulcans will conclude with another doubleheader set for a 3 p.m. start Friday. From there, CBU will head to St. George, Utah next week for a huge four-game PacWest series with current conference leader Dixie State.
CBU opened the series with a 14-2 win and closed out the day with a dramatic, 9-8, walk-off victory keyed by clutch two-out hits from A.J. David, Stephen Lohr and a leadoff double from Alec Morabito in the bottom of the ninth. The Lancers move to 18-14, 10-4 in conference with the wins. The Vulcans are now 6-23, 4-18.
Not only did Lohr go 4-for-7 with four runs batted in on the day, but he delivered the final big blow of the night to give CBU the wild walk-off win. It is Lohr's second walk-off hit this season, with his other coming against Cal Poly Pomona on Feb. 27th.
After a topsy-turvy first eight-and-a-half innings in the nightcap, the Lancers went into the bottom of the ninth in an 8-6 hole. Morabito kick started the offense with a leadoff double into right field to start the inning. Andy Crowley, who went 5-for-9 on the day, moved Morabito to third with a long fly ball to the center field warning track.
"Alec did a great job getting on base, first of all," David said. "He's really the guy that sparked the whole thing. If we don't get him on our chance of winning is low."
Antonio Chavarria hit his way aboard with a single into right field to put runners at the corners, with Steven Pena replacing Chavarria on the base paths. Taylor Wetzel plated Morabito with a sacrifice fly to right field as the Vulcans threatened to end the inning with two outs.
In need of a hit to keep the game alive, David delivered when he lined a shot over the right fielder's head and to the fence, scoring Pena from first to tie the game at 8-8.
"I knew I was going to get a swing in the ninth inning, I just did my best to hit it hard," David said. "Luckily, I got a good enough piece of it to get it over his head. Off the bat, I knew it was over him, I was confident in my piece of it."
From there, Lohr was not going to let it go extras, smashing a shot to deep center. The fielder attempted to make a basket catch but was unable to haul it in, as David scored to end the game.
"I was trying to keep it on a line, like coach says," Lohr said. "Luckily, it was hit far enough to make him run around. I thought he caught it when I hit first base but then I saw he dropped it.
"I love being in those situations, it's a lot of fun."
David was the hottest of all the Lancers Thursday, going 6-for-10 with five runs scored, three RBI, two doubles and a home run to slug 1.100. In the finale, he was 4-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Nathan Antoun went 4-for-9 overall with three doubles, a triple and six RBIs. Chavarria and Luke Navigato each went 3-for-7.
Stephen Carajabal got the win in Thursday's finale after recording the last two outs in the top of the ninth, striking out both batters he faced. Patrick Gonzales also pitched two-thirds of an inning not allowing a base runner.
"That last game was just a battlefield," Lohr said, "it was good to come out with the win."
In the opener, Tyson Miller threw seven innings in which he allowed just four base runners, without walking a batter. Travis Booth closed out the game with two scoreless frames on the mound, striking out two and putting just one runner on with a walk.
Six Lancers had multi-hit games in the opener, led by Crowley's 4-for-6 performance. Lohr (2-2), Navigato (2-4), Morabito (2-5), Antoun (2-5) and David (2-5) each had two hits for CBU.
Antoun helped the Lancers score five of their first six runs with a two-RBI triple in the first inning and bases-loaded double in the second inning. Jake Gallaway, Morabito and Crowley set the table in the second with three-straight singles to start the frame. Both bases-clearing hits from Antoun were sent into the same location in left center.
Lohr lined a single into center field to score Antoun and give the home team a 3-0 lead in the first. In the second, Navigato doubled home two runs and Wetzel scored one more with a sacrifice fly into right, which upped the advantage to 9-0.
In the fourth inning, Lohr and Morabito logged RBI singles and Crowley doubled home another run of his own, which ballooned the cushion to 12-0. David blasted a leadoff, solo homer in the fifth to give the Lancers the first 13 runs of the game.
Despite having plenty of runs for a win, CBU was not content after Hawaii Hilo got on the board with two runs in the eighth. A trio of pinch hitters manufactured the Lancers final run. Brian Ruhm led off with a double and DJ Porter singled into center to put runners at first and second. Jeremy Steggell drove in the final run with a two-out single into right field.
The four-game series with the Vulcans will conclude with another doubleheader set for a 3 p.m. start Friday. From there, CBU will head to St. George, Utah next week for a huge four-game PacWest series with current conference leader Dixie State.
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