RIVERSIDE--- The comeback fell short on Saturday evening for the California Baptist baseball team after dropping the second game of the series to Utah Valley 15-9. The Wolverines jumped ahead to an 8-0 start after the first two innings and the Lancer's offensive attack came a little too late, moving CBU to 28-15 on the year and 14-6 in Western Athletic Conference play.
After going down 11-0 in the fifth inning, Mitchel Simon finally snapped the hopes of a shutout for Utah Valley after homering over the right field wall for a pair of RBI to put the Lancers on the board. Connor McGuire followed suit and crushed his sixth home run of the season to cut UVU's lead to eight heading into the final three innings. The Wolverines tacked on four more runs in the eighth and CBU answered with a Ryan Kim grand slam for four runs of their own. Simon knocked his second home run of the game and fourth of the weekend for a pair of final runs to solidify the 15-9 final line.
Cody New tossed five strikeouts on the mound for CBU as the pitching staff combined for 10 Ks on the evening. It was the free-bases that hurt the Lancers the most during the loss, tallying 14 walks and six hit-by-pitch at-bats. This is just the second loss on Saturday for the California Baptist baseball program this season and their sixth loss in conference play.
The Lancers will return for a rubber match on Sunday afternoon for a chance to take the series and maintain their first-place conference standing.
