In what could only be described as a high-octane affair, the Park University Gilbert baseball team split a double header with Benedictine Mesa this afternoon at Mesa High School in Mesa, Ariz. The Bucs won the first game 19-5 and dropped the second one 20-12.
Game 1 – Park Gilbert 19, Benedictine Mesa 5
Andrew Allanson went 4-6 and Gino Caperon had four RBI to pace a 19-run, 19-hit affair for the Buccaneers in game one. Starting pitcher Ben Staiger threw six-plus strong innings to hold the Redhawk bats in check.
Park jumped out on top with five runs in the first powered by a pair of doubles from Eric Rojo and Nick Miller.
BENU scored one run in the second but would not cross the plate again until the seventh inning and by that time the Bucs had posted 10 more runs and had a 15-1 advantage.
The Bucs added six runs in the sixth behind five hits, including a Caperon three-run double. They then tacked on four more in the seventh behind five more hits including another Caperon two-bagger.
The Bucs would tack on two more runs in the eighth and ninth innings to close out the game. Kindrick Tipping (2 IP) and Adrian Gamez (1 IP) would close things out on the mound with three scoreless innings.
Staiger (2-3) picked up the win. Seven Bucs had multi hit games including Miller and Rees Hall who had three hits each. Six Buccos had multi-RBI games.
Game 2 – Benedictine Mesa 20, Park Gilbert 12
Game two started out similarly to game one as Park Gilbert posted nine runs in the first two innings.
Holding 9-1 lead heading into the fourth, BENU put five runs on the board against Bucs closer turned starter Josh Leckey. This was Leckey’s longest outing of the season and the Redhawks caught up to him in the fourth.
The Bucs still maintained the advantage as Benedictine added two more in the fifth to cut the lead to one.
Park tacked on a run of its own in the top of the sixth on a Hall double, but the wheels would come off in the bottom half of the inning.
Park Gilbert surrendered 16 runs in one inning on Friday, today, it was a 12-run sixth inning which did the Buccaneers in. BENU put 10 hits on the board and was assisted by one Buc error.
Park added two runs in the seventh, but it was not enough and the Bucs fell by eight runs in the final game of the series.
Diego Bejarano led the team with three hits, three runs and four RBI. Evan Vander Valk had two hits and four RBI. Brendan Blakeman made his 2025 debut after missing all of this season with an injury. He scored three runs with a walk.
Park used seven pitchers in the game.
The Buccaneers now have over a week off before returning to the field for a double header against Nelson on April 1 at Tempe Diablo. Currently, the first game is slated to start at 4 p.m.
Press Release courtesy of Park University Athletics – Preston English
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