Saints off to a solid start
The men’s baseball team has the best overall record in the Southern Region (16-5) after splitting Tuesday’s doubleheader against Linn-Benton, winning the first game 2-1 and losing the second 5-4. In the first game, freshman pitcher Austan Mason threw the Saints’ first complete nine-inning game and got the win. He’s now 5-0. “You got to tip your hat to our young freshman pitcher. We were really happy with that performance, and it was pretty inspiring to the rest of our ball club and staff. Pitching and playing good defense is what league play is all about,” said head coach Gabe Sandy. On March 18 the Saints played their first home doubleheader against Edmonds, beating them in both games 8-6 and 10-3. “Edmonds has always been our cross-league rivals. They are always ranked in the top three,” said Sandy. The Saints then headed to Arizona March 24 to play Phoenix CC twice and Big Bend, an NWAACC contender. After beating Phoenix 9-3 on the first day, they fell to them 17-8 the next day. “We made a few errors early on and their bats came alive,” said Sandy. Later that day Big Bend handed them a second loss, 7-2. Coming out of the Arizona trip 1-2, they bounced back and finished their preseason play by sweeping Bellevue, 12-9 and 5-3, on March 26. They opened league play at home Tuesday, March 28, against Chemeketa, beating them in both games, 6-3 and 4-1. “We got off to a good start in league,” said Sandy. Last Saturday they split their games against Clackamas losing in the latter game, 10-4 and 5-4. The men will host Southwestern Oregon CC in a doubleheader Saturday. “They’re scrappy. They beat Lane already one time. I feel like everybody in the league is pretty much, at this point in the season, the same opponent. They are all tough. No one is any better than the other. So I feel like we got to be ready to play, I feel good,” said Sandy. “They’re not going to sneak up on us. We’re not underestimating them by any means. We respect all of our opponents and we’re going to be ready for them.”
|
