(Irvine, CA) The Park University Gilbert baseball team split a double header with Westcliff this afternoon, dropping game one 9-4 before making a ninth inning comeback to take game two 11-9. The Buccaneers are now 10-9 on the season and 4-1 in Cal Pac Conference play.
Game 1 – Westcliff 9, Park Gilbert 4
A rough first inning for the Bucs put them in the hole straight away against the Warriors as thy surrendered four first inning runs as an error by starting pitcher Junior Flores gave the Warriors life and turned what would have been a 1-2-3 inning into a nightmare for the junior lefty. Three singles and a double later, the Bucs found themselves in a hole they were unable to climb out of.
Park Gilbert cut it to a two-run game with a pair in the third. A throwing error and a sacrifice fly brought home the two runs for the Bucs against Warriors starter Eddie Rios. But those would be the only runs the Buccos who cross against the lefty.
Westcliff would add a run in the fourth and four more in the fifth, to close out its scoring and the Bucs would tack on two more in the eighth on Andrew Allansons fifth home run of the season.
Flores (2-1) took his first loss of the season. He allowed eight runs (seven earned) in 4.1 innings. Josh Leckey pitched the last 3.2 innings allowing only one run and striking out five.
At the plate Allanson and Brendan Blakeman each went 2-5 accounting for half of the Bucs eight hits for the game.
Game 2 – Park Gilbert 11, Westcliff 9
It was the Bucs who got off to the hot start in this game scoring five runs in the third. Allanson and Blakeman provided the fireworks again for the Buccos. The first three came home on Allanson’s second home run of the day, and the final two on a Blakeman double after Gino Caperon and Diego Bejarano singled in front of him.
Westcliff answered right back with four runs of its own in the bottom half of the inning off of Park starter Ivri Margolin.
After a scoreless fourth, the Bucs came back with three runs in the fifth. There were five walks in the inning. But one was erased on a fielders choice, the other on a caught stealing. The big blow was Caleb Rozier’s first home run as a Buccaneer, a three-run blast to center. Rozier had nine homers last season at Wayland Baptist.
Trey Langan, who came on in relief of Margolin in the fourth, gave up four in the fifth as the Warriors answered the Bucs big inning with one of its own to tie the game at eight-all.
Westcliff would take its first lead in the seventh inning with two outs. A double and a single off of Langan would score the go ahead run in the inning.
The Bucs had its own chance to tie the game in the eighth as a lead off double by Bejarano was wasted and he was left stranded on third.
The Bucs needed some ninth inning heroics for the second week in a row and they got it as pinch hitter Christian LaPierre led the inning off with an infield single and Caleb Rozier followed with a walk. The Bucs then pulled a double steal to put runners in scoring position. Matthew Seibold then gave the Bucs the lead with a single to right field to score Will Fleece, who was running for LaPierre and Rozier. Allanson then continued his stellar afternoon lacing a double to left which brought home Seibold all the way from first.
Adrian Gamez (1-0) who came on in relief of Langan in the eighth kept the Warrior bats in check in the ninth, only allowing an infield single before setting down the next three hitters to pick up his first win of the season.
Rozier went 3-4 with three runs scored and three RBI. Allanson went 2-3 with four RBI, completing a six-RBI day. Bejarano went 3-6 with a double.
The rubber game between the two teams will conclude the series tomorrow afternoon starting at 3 p.m. Arizona time. Zachary Fogle is the probable starter for the Bucs.
Presz Release courtesy of Park University Athletics – Preston English
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