Pride thump their way to Heart-opening pair of wins at Missouri Valley

MARSHALL, Mo. - Getting their first taste of Heart of America Athletic Conference action for the 2024 season, the Clarke University baseball team had their two highest scoring games of the season in 13-6 and 11-7 wins against Missouri Valley College on Sunday afternoon.

The Pride would crack 28 total hits, 11 extra base hits, and four home runs in the pair of seven inning contest as all but two of the nine innings where CU scored runs had them scoring at least two runs to capture and extend leads.

In the series opener, Clarke would jump out to a 6-0 lead over the first three innings, scoring three runs in each inning, as the first inning saw Brendan O'Connor start the scoring with a solo home run as Dean Ormonde would drive in another on a single to right field before closing the inning's scoring initiating a double steal in a first and third situation.

Alden Brown and Tommy Peterson would provide big swings later on with Brown bashing a three-run home run in the third and Peterson drilled a grand slam in the sixth to help the Pride extend a lead from 9-4 to 13-4.

Dante Maietta produced another quality start on the mound, opening the series with a six-hit performance over six innings to allow four runs, only three earned, while striking out nine Viking hitters and only walking three.

Brown would continue to be an offensive catalyst in the second game of the day, opening the scoring by being hit with a pitch as the bases were loaded in the first as he would later double to kick off scoring in the four-run third inning, then drive in the final run of the game for CU with a sacrifice fly in the sixth to finish 2-for-2 with two runs scored and three RBIs on the day.

That four-run third inning saw three of those score on one swing as Alex Reynozo cracked a three-run home run in his first start since Feb. 10 and first plate appearance since Feb. 25 as he would finish the day 4-for-7 with four RBIs and two runs scored between the two games.

Ormande, Donnie Weaver, and Kieron Crowder would all add RBIs in the day's fianle to help provide plenty of run support for Carson Possehl who came one out shy of throwing a complete game as he struck out six and gave up five earned runs in 6.2 innings to give way to Christian Prull for the final out of the day.

Clarke and Missouri Valley will wrap up their four-game series on Monday with first pitch of the day's first game slated to start at 12:00 p.m. CT in Marshall, Mo.