Baseball Drops Opener in NAIA Tourney
Location: Santa Clarita, Calif. (Reese Field)
Score: British Columbia 4, #17 UNOH 2
Records: UNOH 42-14; UBC 39-17
Next UNOH Event: Wed. 12 p.m. EDT – vs. Cal State-San Marcos; Santa Clarita, Calif. (Reese Field)
SANTA CLARITA, Calif. – Making their first ever appearance in the NAIA National Tournament Opening Round, the University of Northwestern Ohio baseball team got a tremendous pitching performance from a pair of hurlers on Tuesday afternoon.
Unfortunately for the Racers, the offense was unable to provide much support.
UNOH never led in the contest, managing just two runs on five hits in the game, falling to the Thunderbirds who scored four times on seven hits on the afternoon.
The game went into the bottom of the third inning scoreless, when British Columbia got on the board with a two-run homer off the bat of Jerod Bartnik. The Thunderbirds threatened again in the fourth frame, loading the bases without the benefit of a hit, but UNOH starting pitcher Ryan Petrangelo wiggled off the hook, stranding the bases loaded and the margin remained 2-0 into the seventh frame.
Brandon Collins led off the top of the seventh inning with a double, and two batters later, James Cardona lined an RBI hit down the right field line, scoring pinch runner Austin Lenhardt, but Cardona was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double and the Racers trailed 2-1 as the game reached the seventh inning stretch.
A two-out walk from Petrangelo prompted the Racers to go to the bullpen for left-hander Ryan Carter, but two hits and an error led to two British Columbia runs to stretch the Thunderbirds cushion to 4-1 after seven innings. Cardona launched a long solo home run in the top of the ninth, but that was all the Racers were able to muster, as British Columbia held on for a 4-2 win.
Alex Webb (10-3) earned the win on the hill for UBC, allowing one earned run on four hits in seven innings with a pair of strikeouts. Petrangelo (8-1) took his first loss of the season, allowing three earned runs on just three hits in six and two-thirds, and Curtis Taylor (12) earned the save, allowing only the Cardona homer in two innings of work.
Cardona had the only multi-hit game for the Racers, with Jhonniel Alvarez and Ryan Lozada adding singles as well.
The loss sends UNOH into the loser's bracket of the Santa Clarita Bracket of the NAIA Opening Round, and they will face the Cal State-San Marcos Cougars (36-16) at Noon EDT on Wednesday in the first game of the day. The winner of that game will play again at 6 p.m. EDT against the loser of Tuesday's game between the host Master's College (42-12) and Vanguard University (35-20).