California Baptist University
28-14, 14-5
Utah Valley University
20-22, 11-8
Simon and Kim Both Homer Twice in Friday Night Victory Against Utah Valley
4/26/2024 10:15:00 PM | Baseball
RIVERSIDE--- It was another home run-heavy day for the Lancers at Totman Stadium on Friday evening as the California Baptist baseball program picked up a 12-8 Western Athletic Conference win over Utah Valley. CBU moves to 14-5 in conference play and 28-14 on the year behind five home runs and 14 hits from the Lancer offense.
Mitchel Simon struck again with another pair of home runs against the Wolverines for dingers number 15 and 16 this year, edging himself closer to the single-season all-time CBU baseball record of 21 homers. Ryan Kim also got in on the fun and knocked a pair of home runs against UVU to improve to five on the season, while Connor McGuire wrapped up the game with a solo shot.
After Simon opened the game with his first homer, Matthew Darr doubled down the left-field line to bring home a pair of runs before Kim hit a two-RBI single for an early 4-0 lead. The score would remain unchanged until the fourth inning when Kim knocked the first pitch of the at-bat for his first homer of the evening. Garret Ostrander kept the bats hot and managed to get on base before Simon sent him home with a two-RBI bomb that pushed the Lancers ahead by seven.Lead-off home run so nice that he had to stop and watch🤩#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/m3jkNwiIOI
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) April 27, 2024
Kim knocked his second homer for a lone run in the fifth inning, but the Wolverines ended the hopes of a shutout after Daniel Dickinson homered over the left field wall to put the away team on the board. A Nicholas Dumesnil RBI double was a good response from the Lancers in the sixth, but UVU kept tallying the runs and homered again in the seventh to cut CBU's lead to seven runs. The Lancers answered yet again in the form of a two-RBI single down the right-field line by Garret Ostrander.
Utah Valley built momentum for one last comeback in the eighth and tallied four runs through the inning, but the Lancers were able to stave off the Wolverines and even picked up an insurance run in the bottom of the inning, courtesy of McGuire's homer.Ok for his second homer, we'll give you his actual Trackman numbers😮💨
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) April 27, 2024
Exit Velo: 103 MPH
Distance: 392 FT#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/XWiR9u5oUU
Designated hitter Kim boasted four hits across four at-bats for CBU while tallying three RBI and three runs. Simon and Ostrander both picked up three hits on Friday evening as well. Leading the pitching staff for California Baptist was starter Lukas Pirko, who left the night with eight strikeouts and allowed four hits during his six-inning outing.
The Lancers return to Totman Stadium for the second installment of the WAC series against the Wolverines at 5 p.m. on Saturday evening.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Pirko, Lukas (5-2)
L: Hennessey, Chase (0-3)
S: Hemmerling, Nathan (2)
Batting:
2B: Iverson, Luke 1
HR: Dickinson, Daniel 1 ; Smith, Jayden 1
RBI: Dickinson, Daniel 2 ; Bach, Nate 1 ; Iverson, Luke 2 ; Smith, Jayden 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Dickinson, Daniel 1 ; Camper, Burke 2 ; Jordan, Cole 1 ; Bach, Nate 1 ; Iverson, Luke 1 ; Smith, Jayden 1
SB: Dickinson, Daniel 1 ; Camper, Burke 1
HBP: Camper, Burke 1
Batting:
2B: Simon, Mitchel 1 ; Dumesnil, Nicholas 1 ; Darr, Matthew 1
HR: Simon, Mitchel 2 ; McGuire, Connor 1 ; Kim, Ryan 2
RBI: Simon, Mitchel 3 ; Dumesnil, Nicholas 2 ; McGuire, Connor 1 ; Darr, Matthew 2 ; Kim, Ryan 3 ; Ostrander, Garret 1
SH: Carpentier, Michael 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Simon, Mitchel 3 ; Carpentier, Michael 1 ; McGuire, Connor 2 ; Darr, Matthew 1 ; Kim, Ryan 3 ; Ostrander, Garret 2
SB: Ostrander, Garret 2
HBP: Simon, Mitchel 1
