Baseball Misses Two Great Opportunities to Upset No. 8 Doane
Hastings, NE – The Hastings College baseball team had two good chances to knock off NAIA No. 8 Doane on Sunday afternoon but ended up dropping both games 2-1 and 8-5 (10 innings) out on Duncan Field.
Hastings, NE – The Hastings College baseball team had two good chances to knock off NAIA No. 8 Doane on Sunday afternoon but ended up dropping both games 2-1 and 8-5 (10 innings) out on Duncan Field.
A pitchers dual broke out in game one just like it did in game one on Thursday out in Crete, NE. James Velasquez was on the mound in game one and held the Tigers in check through five innings.
The Bronco bats would also stay quiet until HC took advantage of a one out walk to Jaden Stone in the fifth. Jarod Delgado then single to right to put runners on first and second with one out.
Following a strikeout, Jace Valdez hit a single to right and Stone was able to score from second as the ball would get away from the catcher as HC now led 1-0.
Doane put some pressure on Velasquez in the sixth getting a runner into scoring position with one out. Velasquez did manage to strikeout the Tigers' best hitter Narumi Okayasu but Braydon Jones picked up the clutch RBI single to tie the game 1-1 heading into the seventh.
Doane finally chased Velasquez and Alec Fichter came in in hopes to shut down the Tiger threat but a safety squeeze brought home the second run as HC now trailed 2-1. The Broncos managed to get two runners into scoring position, but a strikeout ended the threat and the game.
Delgado led the way in game one going 2-for-3 while Velasquez pithed 6.1 innings giving up just two runs on five hits.
Game two as all Doane early on as the Tigers built a 5-0 lead before HC even got its first hit which came with one out in the sixth by Tyler Kissler. It proved to be a big one as it loaded the bases. Jace Valdez would then get walked as HC was on the board trailing 5-1.
The Broncos picked up its second run in the seventh on a Jaden Stone RBI single to make it 5-2. The game stayed that way into the ninth and things would get even more interesting.
Tristan Martinez started the ninth off with a single and then Santo Chirco got hit by a pitch. Stone then went opposite field down the left field line for a 2 RBI triple as Hastings trailed 5-4 with no outs. Delgado then reached first due to an error by the third baseman allowing the tying run to score as the Broncos were in business. But two strikeouts ended the threat as this game headed to extra innings.
The Tigers would end up plating three runs in the tenth without recording a single hit while the Broncos went down in order in the bottom half of the inning as the Tigers escaped with a sweep.
Marcus Miller got the start going 5.2 innings giving up five runs on 12 hits while striking out six. Stone led the way at the plate going 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Martinez also recorded two hits.
Hastings is now 9-19 (1-7) on the year and will be back in action Friday Mar. 29 hitting the road to take on Northwestern with first pitch set for 1:00 pm out in Orange City, IA.
