delta fa24
7
Winner Grace Christian U GCU
1
Delta DC
Winner
Grace Christian U GCU
7
Final
1
Delta DC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Grace Christian U GCU 1 0 0 0 5 0 1 7 10 3
Delta DC 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 6 0

W: Hoonhorst, Matt (1) L: Sella, L (1)

5
Winner Grace Christian U GCU
3
Delta DC
Winner
Grace Christian U GCU
5
Final
3
Delta DC
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 R H E
Grace Christian U GCU 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 2 5 9 0
Delta DC 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 0 3 10 1

W: Bos, Brendan (1) L: Bauman, T (1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Baseball Finishes Fall Season On Two Wins

Saginaw, MI - Following the cancelation of their final fall series against Sault College, the Tigers added a double header against Delta College, in Saginaw, Michigan to conclude their 8-week fall season.  

Game 1: 

Tigers got off to a quick start in the first inning of the day. Jared Garnaat got the offense started with a 1 out single in the 1st inning. Garnaat would then steal second, and eventually be brought home on a two out double down the first base line by Eric Whiting. The Tigers looked to add more but ultimately left the bases loaded to end the first inning. 

Delta, however, almost struck right back against Tigers starting pitcher Matt Hoonhorst. After a pair of singles, Delta had runners at first and third knocking at the door. Their rally would come to an end after a flyout to left fielder Royce Frieberger resulted in an inning ending double play after he unleashed a cannon to the plate to catch the runner tagging from third. 

Both teams' pitchers would settle in and throw three scoreless frames keeping the score at 1-0 Tigers entering the 5th inning. The Tigers' offense finally broke through again in the top of the 5th. After a one out double by freshman Ben Anderson, the bats found some momentum. Sophomore, Damian Fernandez would advance Anderson to third with a single, and then steal second getting runners to second and third with one out. 

Jared Garnaat then brought Anderson home and advance Fernandez to third with an RBI single, and Royce Frieberger scored Fernandez with a sacrifice fly pushing the Tigers lead to 3-0 in the contest. The Tigers weren't done yet though. After two more stolen bases by Garnaat and a couple walks, Sophomore Dale Westphal would come through with a huge two out, two RBI single, making the score 5-0. Reagan Mustchler would come through with a big pinch hit RBI single making the score 6-0 capping off a lopsided 5 run 5th inning! 

Delta would respond back with one run of their own in the bottom half of the 5th inning but that is all they could muster. Freshman Colin Nelson came in to relieve Hoonhorst and threw 1.2 scoreless innings, striking out three batters. Grace would add one more in the 7th as Westphal knocked in his third RBI of the day. Aiden Malone came on in the bottom of the 7th to throw a 1, 2, 3 inning and slam the door, finishing a 7-1 Tigers win in game 1! 

Hoonhorst finished the day with 4.1 innings pitched, giving up only 1 run, with 3 strikeouts collecting his first win of the season. The Tigers offense was led by Westphal who recorded 3 RBI's on the day. 
 

Game 2: 

The Tigers lept out to an early lead in game two again, as Damian Fernandez started off the game with a leadoff double, and would eventually come around to score on an RBI groundout by Eric Whiting, giving the TIgers a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. 

Sophomore Joe Leavitt got the start on the mound for the Tigers, and after a couple of hits by Delta found himself in an early bases-loaded jam. Leavitt would keep his cool and induce a weak groundout to get out of the inning and keep the score at 1-0. That is how the score would remain until the bottom of the 3rd when Delta pushed the tying run across with a two out single. 

The score remained tied 1-1 until Delta started a rally of their own and pushed across a couple of runs in the bottom of the 5th giving them a 3-1 advantage in the late innings. Leavitt handed the ball over to Brendan Bos after 4.2 innings of solid work, where Bos would stop the bleeding.

The Tigers responded quickly in the top half of the 6th after freshman Brayden Chavies scored Whiting with an RBI double. The Tigers would then play a little bit of small ball that led to a wild throw from the catcher which scored Chavies to tie the game at 3-3. Both teams would go scoreless in the 7th inning sending the game into extra innings. 

The Tigers rode their momentum and broke through in the top of the 8th. A leadoff single from Chavies, a sacrifice bunt from Sam Sipe, a pinch hit walk from AJ Scott put runners at second and third with 1 out. Ben Anderson came through with an RBI groundout to plate the go-ahead run, and Damian Fernandez came through with a clutch two out single giving the Tigers a 5-3 lead going into the home half of the 8th. 

Bos never flinched, completing his scoreless day on the mound as he fired a 1, 2, 3 8th inning to slam the door, completing the 5-3 victory. The win capped off a 2-0 road sweep to end the fall. Bos recorded his first win of the season throwing 3.1 innings of scoreless ball. 

"The guys really battled well today," said Coach Wolfe afterwards. "It's never easy to sweep a team on the road, especially when you're down by two runs going into the 6th inning of game two. It showed a type of grit and competitiveness that we've been looking for, and I'm very proud of this team for finishing the fall on a high note."

The Tigers finish their short fall season with a 3-1 official record. They will head into the off-season to heal up and get stronger in the weight room before they come back for the spring season. They will open up their season on the road in a four game series at Ohio Christian University on February 28, 2025.
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