Riverside, Calif. - The baseball team returned to action on Sunday, hosting Oregon Tech for a non-conference doubleheader. The two teams battled each other, along with occasional showers and brisk temperatures. The Hustlin Owls took Game 1 by a final of 7-3, but the Golden Eagles answered back with a 5-3 win in Game 2 to secure a split. La Sierra remains even, with an overall record of 4-4 on the season.
Game 1: OIT def. La Sierra, 7-3 (7 Innings)
After the Golden Eagles tied the score, at 2-2, with two runs in the bottom half of the 4thinning, the Owls countered with a 4-run top of the 5thinning to regain the lead. That lead would hold up for the remainder of the way, with the Owls scoring seven runs on 12 hits, to the Golden Eagles three runs on seven hits.
Nick Salinas led the team with a 2-run triple that tied the game momentarily. He was one of seven different players to notch at least one hit in the game. Kash Mattson finished 1-for-3 and accounted for the only other RBI in the contest.
Jax Evenhus picked up the victory, giving up three runs on four hits through 4 1/3 innings, while Andrew Gonzalez was charged with the loss after surrendering six runs and seven hits through four innings of work.
Game 2: La Sierra def. OIT, 5-3
La Sierra rebounded to take the second game of the afternoon. The team scored two 8thinning runs to secure the victory in what was a back-and-forth affair. The Golden Eagles capitalized on two wild pitches, by the Owls' Logan Nousen, that resulted in two runs for La Sierra. Nousen was charged with the loss, after giving up three runs and four hits in his two innings of work. Mark Bontempo picked up the win, in relief of Justin Wren who got the start for La Sierra.
Wren pitched the first five innings, giving up two runs on just two hits. Bontempo pitched the final four innings, while giving up one run on three hits while striking out five along the way.
Mattson led the team with two hits in the game, while five other players tallied one hit apiece. Tim Mendonca, Michael Moy, and Rafael Segovia each notched an RBI for the Golden Eagles, accounting for their three earned runs in the victory.
The baseball team is scheduled to host Bethesda University this coming Friday, for a non-conference doubleheader, starting at 11am. Friday's games would be the first meetings between the two teams this season. They were both scheduled to play on February 3, but were ultimately rained out.
