Lancers Rally Late on Opening Day

Friday, February 14

Stockton, Calif.

5:00 PM

California Baptist University

0-1

Pacific

1-0

California Baptist

Pacific Tigers

Lancers Rally Late on Opening Day

2/14/2020 9:00:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Photo Gallery

By: Andrew Shortall, Director of Athletics Communications

STOCKTON – California Baptist University scored five runs in the final three innings, but its comeback bid fell short on Opening Day at the University of the Pacific.

Two hits each from Harrison Spohn, Ulises Caballero and Jeff Bruyntjens led the Lancers' offense, which collected six of their nine hits over the final three innings. Nick Plaia also drove in a team-high three runs, with the help of a two-run double in the eighth.

🚨 #️⃣1️⃣ 🚨

Junior @baseball_RCC transfer Ulises Caballero logs his first hit as a Lancer in the fifth inning. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/uY19mWwXdI
— CBU Baseball (@CBUbaseball) February 15, 2020

The Tigers managed to take advantage of 12 free passes (nine walks, three hits by pitches) to pull out a 9-5 win at Klein Family Field on Friday. CBU (0-1) and Pacific (1-0) continue their four-game series with 1 p.m. games on Saturday and Sunday, and then wrap it up with a noon contest Monday.

CBU found itself in a 7-0 hole through six innings, but started to turn things around and outscored Pacific 5-2 over the final three frames. Spohn and John Glenn put two on with no outs to start the seventh on a leadoff single and hit by pitch, respectively.

Back-to-back grounders from Caballero and Plaia scored Spohn for the Lancers' first run of the game. Bruyntjens then drove a ground-rule double to the warning track to plate Glenn.

💪 RBI DOUBLE 💪

Jeff Bruyntjens flashes the warning-track power. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/6DrZCuBiOx
— CBU Baseball (@CBUbaseball) February 15, 2020

Junior transfer Russell Stevenson made his CBU debut as a pinch hitter, with two outs, and blooped a single into shallow left to cut the deficit down to 7-3 before the inning was over.

👏👏👏

What a way to make your debut! Russell Stevenson bloops in an RBI single to cut further into the deficit. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/XeOXlp1qYG
— CBU Baseball (@CBUbaseball) February 15, 2020

The Tigers answered and got two of those runs back in the bottom of the seventh. The Lancers scored two more times in the eighth. Spohn and Caballero started the threaten with one and two-out singles. Plaia scored them both, as he skied a double to right center to cap the scoring at 9-5.

✌️ DOUBLE TROUBLE ✌️

Nick Plaia drives in a pair with his first hit of the season. #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/6PA06GUFSp
— CBU Baseball (@CBUbaseball) February 15, 2020