IRVINE, CALIF. – The OUAZ baseball team's run in the GSAC Tournament came to an end on Wednesday, falling to #8 Hope International 7-4. The big inning hurt the Spirit once again, as the Royals scored all of its runs in just two frames.

After falling being 4-0 in the top of the fourth inning, the Spirit responded right away with a run in each of the next two frames. In the fourth, a Logan Meyer sacrifice fly got OUAZ on the board, then the team pulled within two when Mattew Carter drove in Owen Prendergast.

The Spirit would score two more times in the seventh, as a wild pitch and a passed ball, and an error all allowed runs to score. While OUAZ grabbed some momentum heading into its final six outs, they were unable to stave off elimination.

It was another good day at the plate for Nathan Tarver, who finished with two hits and scoring both times he reached base. Nicholas Lusting also had two hits at the top of the lineup, and Tarver was the lone extra-base hit for OUAZ.

The Spirit pitching staff struck out 12 batters, with Creighton Silvain getting five of his six outs via the punchout. Silvain, as well as Peyton Little and Trey Trimble, turned in scoreless appearances on Wednesday.

OUAZ will now wait to see if they will earn an at-large bid to the NAIA National Championship, which would begin with the Opening Round at one of the ten on-campus sites. The full field will be released next Thursday, May 9.