(Mesa, AZ) The Park University Gilbert baseball team (13-21) used late game heroics to sweep a double header from Nelson University this afternoon at Arizona Athletic Grounds, winning the first game 7-6 in extra innings before using a sixth inning rally to beat the Warriors in game two 13-10. Both contests were slated as seven inning games.
Game 1 – Park Gilbert 7, Nelson 6
The Bucs rallied on three different occasions to come out on top with a 7-6 victory in game one.
The hero of the day was catcher Andrew Allanson who hit two home runs including the walk off game winning homer in the eighth inning.
The Bucs jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when Will Fleece, running for Allanson after he doubled scored on a wild pitch.
Nelson responded with two runs in the top of the third, but the Bucs came right back in the bottom half with two runs of their own on an Allanson two-run blast.
The see-saw battle continued as Nelson took the lead back with three runs in the fifth off the Bucs bullpen and added what seemed to be an insurance run in the sixth.
The Warriors received a strong pitching performance from Carson Padilla who went five innings allowing three runs on six hits. The Bucs were able to get back into the game against the Warriors pen.
The Bucs scored three runs on four hits against Nelson reliever Gannon Aguiar to tie the game. RBI singles by Nick Miller, Allanson and Diego Bejarano knotted the game at 6-6.
The Bucs brought in reliever Adrian Gamez (1-0) who entered the year as the Bucs closer but has struggled to show the form which earned him the role entering the season. Today he looked like the Gamez of old throwing two scoreless and hitless innings in the seventh and eighth, striking out four to set the stage for Allanson in the eighth.
These two teams were playing two seven inning games today so the eighth inning was considered “extras,” Allanson did not waste any time, sending the first pitch he saw screaming over the fence in right center to bring game one to a close and cap a great game for the senior.
This was the second walk off homer for the Bucs this season as Caleb Rozier won with a walk off bomb early in the season against Eastern Oregon.
Ten of the Bucs 11 hits came from three hitters. Allanson went 4-5 with four RBI, a double and two home runs. Bejarano went 3-4 with a double and an RBI. Miller went 3-3 with an RBI.
Gamez picked up his first win of the season.
Game 2 – Park Gilbert 13, Nelson 10
The bats were hot on both sides of the ledger in game two for Park and Nelson. Park Gilbert would fall behind twice despite an eight-run first inning and ultimately use another crooked number inning and a strong outing by a pitcher who has had his struggles to secure victory.
Nelson jumped out on top 3-0 in the first on a three-run home run. Things looked promising for the Warriors as they had their top pitcher Estaban Acevedo on the bump. But the Buccos greeted Acevedo with an eight-run first inning.
Bejarano got things going with a two-run double, a fielder’s choice, bases loaded walk and doubles by Enrique Figueroa and Allanson drove in the remaining runs in the inning. The double by Figueroa was a bases clearing three-run shot.
Nelson was not done scoring as it tacked on two runs in the second and third innings to chase starter Isaiah Csader after two-plus inning.
With the score 9-7, Nelson scored three runs in the fifth off Bucs reliever Caden Griffen to take a 10-9 lead. The Bucs would strand two runners in the fifth in their first opportunity to tie the game but would get it done in the sixth as the bottom of the order came through.
Five consecutive batters would reach base to start the inning. Evan Vander Valk doubled to open things up, followed by a Christian LaPierre single. Rees Hall was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no one out. RJ Molinawould single in two runs and Figueroa would come up clutch again with an RBI single. Caleb Rozier would complete the scoring with a run scoring knock.
Sophomore right hander Trey Langan (1-2) is another pitcher who had high expectations entering the season but has also struggled to find the form he showed in 2024. He had a solid outing throwing two innings, scattering three hits, not allowing a run and striking out two to pick up his first win of the season.
The Bucs posted 14 hits in the contest with four multi-hit games. Vander Valk with 3-3 with two runs scored. Figueroa went 2-3 with four RBI and Bejarano kept padding the stat page with two hits and two RBI.
Now the docket doesn’t get any easier as the Bucs travel to face eighth-ranked and defending national champions Hope International on Friday and Saturday in Fullerton, Calif. This will be the first time these two teams have locked horns although there was a Non-conference three-game set scheduled two years ago which was cancelled due to torrential rains in California which forced the Royals to have to play a make up conference series instead of the Bucs. HIU enters the series with a 29-6 record overall and a 14-2 mark in the GSAC.
Press Release courtesy of Park University Athletics – Preston English
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