SURPRISE, Ariz. – The OUAZ baseball team split a doubleheader against No. 14 William Jessup on Friday in Golden State Athletic Conference action. OUAZ twice overcame a six-run deficit to win game one 9-7 and then William Jessup came back to win game two 4-0.
With the day's results, the Spirit are now 5-10 overall this season and they move to 2-4 in the GSAC. William Jessup moves to 13-7 and 2-4.
GAME 1
OUAZ needed to twice rally from six runs behind to win the series opener after the Warriors scored six times in the top of the third. It was then 7-1 going to the bottom of the seventh when the Spirit began the rally. They scored three runs on RBIs from
Daniel Partida,
Adrian Salazar, and
Eddie Ortiz.
In the bottom of the eighth, OUAZ struck for five runs to complete the rally with Salazar driving in the tying run with a single to left and then Partida hustling home for the go-ahead run when the ball rolled away from the catcher.
Hunter Lessard had three hits to lead the team's 12-hit effort. He had one double, one RBI, and two runs scored. Salazar and Partida each had two hits and two RBI.
Hayden Sandman (1-1) was credited with the win after stranding a pair of runners in the top of the eighth.
Myles White worked a perfect ninth with two strikeouts to record his second save of the year.
Kapono Rawlins kept the Spirit in the game by allowing just one run on five hits in 4.1 innings in relief.
GAME 2
The momentum of the game one rally didn't carry over into game two as the Spirit didn't record their first hit until the bottom of the fifth. Down 4-0 in the bottom of the seventh, OUAZ got runners to second and third but couldn't get a run across.
Taylor Campos (1-2) suffered the loss after allowing four runs on eight hits in 6.2 innings. He had five strikeouts and walked two.
Salazar picked up another hit to extend his current hitting streak to seven games.
Kobie Tinsley and
Griffin Hagen had the other two hits for OUAZ.
UP NEXT
The Spirit and Warriors will play another doubleheader on Saturday with game one now at Dysart High School at 11 a.m. with game two moving back to Royals Field 6 at 3 p.m. Follow @OUAZSpirit on Twitter for information in regard to the predicted rain in the area.