Baseball Splits Doubleheader at Maranatha

WATERTOWN, WI -- The Blackburn College Baseball team played a doubleheader against Maranatha Baptist University and split their two games, losing the first game 7-5 and bouncing back to win the second game 15-4.

Leading the way for the Beavers was junior Joshua Moreno with four runs, two hits and one run batted in. Freshman Andrew Medina added three runs, two hits and four RBIs while Junior Royce Congi had three runs, one hit and two RBIs. Senior C.J Brunaugh posted two runs, two hits and four RBIs and sophomore Dominic Medrano tallied one run, three hits and one RBI. Junior Harley Carney had one run and two hits with senior RJ Arredondo and sophomore Luke Ellinger both chipping in with one hit and one RBI each. Senior Andrew Lozano had two runs and sophomore Kelton Keran had one run. Senior Frankie Ruiz and juniors Pedro Medina and Brett Lander all posted one run each, with Ruiz and P. Medina each having one hit as well.

Moreno threw two strikeouts and senior Alex Coffman threw eight strikeouts in game one. Freshman Mattson Davis picked up his first career win in game two. 

In game one, the Sabrecats scored first in the bottom of the first inning to put them up 2-0. At the top of the second inning, Ruiz singled to left field and then Congi homered to clear them both to make the score 2-2. However, Maranatha scored three more runs in the bottom of the second. They then scored two more at the bottom of the third to make it 7-2. The Beavers scored in the fifth inning when Lander walked, stole second, advanced to third on a walk by Lozano, and then went home on a passed ball. Lozano advanced to second on the passed ball, advanced to third on a fielder's choice, and scored on a passed ball. In the seventh inning, P. Medina walked, stole second, and scored on the throw to put the Beavers at five runs. The game ended after the top of the seventh inning and the Beavers fell to the Sabrecats, 7-5.

Blackburn came back in game two and took the lead early when Moreno reached first on a Sabrecat error, stole second, and scored when A. Medina doubled up the middle. Medrano then doubled to centerfield to score A. Medina and put the Beavers up 2-0. At the top of the third, Moreno doubled, then Brunaugh homered to put up an additional two runs for the Beavers. Maranatha scored two at the bottom of the third. The Beavers then added five runs in the fourth inning, which consisted of two runs coming from another Brunaugh home run. The Sabrecats answered with two more runs, but the Beavers offense proved to be too powerful when they scored six more runs at the top of the fifth inning. The last three innings were scoreless and the game ended with Blackburn picking up the win, 15-4.

The Beavers will return to action on Saturday afternoon when they travel down to Lyon College for a St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader.