Pride salvage a game on Senior Day matchup against No. 17 MidAmerica Nazarene
PEOSTA, Iowa - Looking for a bounce back performance after their first doubleheader sweep losses in conference play, the Clarke University baseball team was able to earn a series finale split against No. 17 MidAmerica Nazarene University on Saturday afternoon.
The Pride opened the day honoring their class of 13 seniors that included Brendan O'Connor, Thomas Brannon, Tres Sarmiento, Jose Perez, Kevin Javier, Luke Fredrick, Joey Clemann, Josh Scalish, Michael Garritano, Donnie Weaver, Ethan Jones, Andrew Swartz, and Tommy Peterson in their final home date in the Heart of America Athletic Conference.
Saturday started off strong for CU as starting pitcher Dante Maietta held the Pioneers scoreless in the top of the first for the first time in the series then the Clarke offense put up a three-spot to take an early 3-0 lead on RBIs from Brannon and Peterson.
Clarke would put up another crooked number in the second inning with O'Connor driving in Jones with an RBI single then the Pride creating some action on the bases with a double steal attempt that would score Dean Ormonde to make it 5-0 CU after two innings.
That would prove to be enough for Maietta, who only allowed one run on a bases loaded walk in the top of the fifth, which provided MNU's best change to cut more into CU's then 6-0 lead as Ormonde would flash the leather on a diving stop with the bases still loaded and two outs to save at least one more run from scoring for the Pioneers.
Maietta would finish with his seventh win of the season on a six-inning outing allowing six hits and three walks with four strikeouts as David Guevara would pitch a 1-2-3 seventh inning to close out the 7-1 game and Clarke's 14th win in Heart play.
Holding MidAmerica Nazarene off the board in the first inning would prove to be one of the important bits of the series as they would put up a two-run top of the first on game four starter Ethan Hefel and another in the second to lead 3-0 quickly as they looked to earn their fifth Heart series win of the season.
Scoring twice more in the top of the fifth, MNU would have to hold off a Pride rally in both the fifth and sixth innings after Ormonde got CU on the board with an RBI single in the fifth but Clarke would end up stranding two runners in the inning.
The sixth inning would end up being Clarke's best chance as they would use a lead off single, a walk, and three hit batters to score two runs but would leave the bases loaded with an inning ending ground out to short, leaving the score at 5-3.
A two-out insurance run for the Pioneers would provide some extra cushion but they would finish the bottom of the seventh three-up, three-down to close out their series win by a final of 6-3.
Clarke baseball will host one more home game at A.J. Spiegel Park next week when St. Ambrose University returns to Peosta for a non-conference mid-week game on Wednesday, Apr. 24 for a 4:00 p.m. CT first pitch to the single nine-inning game.