O'Connor provides the power in Pride doubleheader sweep over Graceland
LAMONI, Iowa - Getting back to Heart of America Athletic Conference play following postponements from the weekend, the Clarke University baseball team was able to take both games from Graceland University on Monday afternoon.
The Pride got their offense on track against the Yellowjackets with a 9-5 win in the opener and followed it up with a 10-2 victory to control both games on their way to moving to 10-9 overall and 3-3 in Heart play.
Clarke's offense used their pop in game two, including hitting three home runs, two of which came off of the bat of Brendan O'Connor including a grand slam in the third inning to get the scoring started as he finished the game off with a two-run shot in the seventh inning to get CU to those 10 runs.
O'Connor finished with seven RBIs as he also added an RBI double in the fourth inning as Bubba Thompson also hit a two-run home run of his own in the seventh inning for his team-leading fourth home run of the season.
That offensive production was plenty for starter Isaac Rohde and Johnny Blake in relief as each struck out six batters with Rohde getting the win with his start that went four innings while allowing both runs as Blake threw three shutout innings in relief to earn the save.
In the day's opener saw the Pride jump out in front 5-0 and 7-2 before the Yellowjackets tried to mount a little comeback in the middle of the game as Brendan Boily entered in relief of Tyson Tucker after Graceland scored two runs to make it 7-4 with the bases loaded as Boily forced a foul out to get out of the inning.
O'Connor was a run producer in the opener as well, driving in the game's opening run in the first inning and another with an RBI double in the fourth inning. Thomas Brannon and Daniel Phyle also drove in a pair of runs in the game as Phyle did so with a two-RBI triple in the second inning before a Thompson RBI double to get CU up 5-0 at the time.
Clarke and Graceland won't be able to complete their four-game series due to weather heading into the Lamoni area as any rescheduling of the final two games is still up in the air and now the Pride will get set for their home opener this weekend when they host Culver-Stockton College on Saturday and Sunday at A.J. Spiegel Park.