Series openers come down to final at bats as Pride and Wildcats split doubleheader

PEOSTA, Iowa - Getting their first taste of action on their home action since Mar. 22, the Clarke University baseball team split their series opening doubleheader against Culver-Stockton College on Saturday afternoon at A.J. Spiegel Park.

The Wildcats were able to pull out an extra innings win in game one by a final score of 6-4 before the Pride eked out a 5-2 win in game two that saw the tying run come to the plate with two outs in the top of the seventh.

In game two, Christian Prull produced his second straight quality start for CU by tossing his first complete game of the season in a six-hit effort allowing two unearned runs while walking only one batter and striking out five for his fourth win of the season.

CSC seemed to figure out Prull at least a little bit late in the game, trailing 5-0 heading to the sixth inning, they were able to get the leadoff baserunner on via an error on the infield but then Kannon Kirk and Jordan Scott produced RBI hits off of the Pride righty to cut the lead to 5-2 heading into the seventh inning.

The top of the seventh would start with another leadoff baserunner for the Wildcats, this time a single followed by a one-out walk would eventually lead to a first and third situation with two outs, once again for Kirk to step to the plate. The Culver-Stockton infielder would connect on a high fly ball deep to left-center field, sending defensive replacement Ki Crowder all the way back to the wall for the senior to make the catch on the warning track, where Kirk would miss a game-tying home run by just a few feet, clinching a victory for the Pride.

Clarke was able to score their first run of the game in the second inning when designated hitter Ethan Hefel singled throught the right side to score Darin Eales and make it 1-0. CU had more action on the bases in the fourth inning as Randy Lopez-Acosta came to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs to foul off three-straight full count pitches before capping a ball back to toward the mound as he would beat out an infield single to make it 2-0 and keeping the inning alive for William Ramirez.

Ramirez would get down in the count before connecting on a deep drive to right field over the head of the Culver-Stockton right fielder and rolling all the way to the wall, clearing the bases with a three-RBI double before he was thrown out trying to stretch his double to a triple.

Hefel, Lopez-Acosta, and Ramiez combined for five hits and five RBIs in the bottom third of the Pride lineup with Hefel and Lopez-Acosta each finishing with two hits then Alden Brown having a 3-for-3 game two and also scoring a run out of the clearnup spot.

Game one saw the Wildcats jump out to an early lead with a pair of third inning runs to lead 2-0 before Alex Reynozo recorded his first home run of the season with a shot to left center, cutting the CSC lead in half at 2-1.

Two more runs from Culver-Stockton made it 4-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth with the Pride first getting an RBI single from Eales to make it 4-2 before loading the bases with no outs when Wildcat starting pitcher Davin Meier was able to strike out the next two hitters, bringing Lopez-Acosta to the plate as the CU center fielder drew a walk with the pitch getting away from the catcher to the backstop sending Eales around third from second bases to score the second run on the play behind David Trujillo, who scored on the walk while pinch running earlier in the inning.

Now tied at 4-4, Clarke was unable to produce any more offense in the sixth then would proceed to go three-up, three-down in the seventh and eighth innings, as they finished the extra innings contest with only four hits in the game.

The top of the eighth inning saw the Wildcats produce the biggest swing of the game when first baseman Tristan Meny lofted a ball to deep right field, where a steady wind was pushing most balls deeper, for a solo home run to break the 4-4 tie before CSC got an unearned run later in the inning to extend their lead to two runs and the eventual final of 6-4.

Clarke game one starting pitcher Dante Maietta had a solid start, working six innings of four-hit ball but walked four to allow four runs, three earned, and struck out seven Culver-Stockton batters.

The Pride and Wildcats will close out their four-game series with a Sunday doubleheader in Peosta, Iowa for another 1:00 p.m. CT scheduled first pitch for game three at A.J. Spiegel Park.