The OUAZ baseball team opened the 2024 Golden State Athletic Conference season with an 8-6 victory over the 11th-ranked Hope International Royals in Fullerton, California, behind good pitching and power-hitting. It is the tenth straight win for the Spirit and makes them 2-0 on a season long seven-game road trip.
Evan Massie (3-0) turned in another fine performance going six innings, striking out six batters for the Spirit (12-1, 1-0 GSAC).
Shortstop Christian Powell went two for two in the game with one RBI that came on his solo home run in the top of the second.
Four Spirit batters went yard; Brayden Marcum, Nathan Tarver, and Owen Pendergast joined Powell in hitting a ball deep into the Fullerton air.
Tarver went two for four with five RBI. A three-run home run in the fourth inning and then two innings later, a two-run double.
Technically, the win is a come-from-behind victory as HIU (6-6, 0-1 GSAC) took a 2-0 lead with a run-scoring single and sacrifice fly coming on consecutive batters. It is the fifth such victory of the year.
The two teams will finish the series with a doubleheader that starts at 12:00 Noon (Arizona Time) at Duane Winters Field in Fullerton.
