Pride blaze through Cajun Collision Day One slate by combined score of 17-1

Pride blaze through Cajun Collision Day One slate by combined score of 17-1
Box Score
February 10, 2023

STERLINGTON, La. - A start-to-finish day that couldn't have gone any better for the Clarke University baseball team saw the Pride earn a 12-1 win over Texas Wesleyan University and a 5-0 win over Southwestern Christian University on Friday at the Cajun Collision.

CU hitters combined for 23 hits and all of their 17 runs were batted in as the offense found a grove after a less than stellar offensive opening weekend last week at Oklahoma City as the pitching trio of Tyson Tucker, Connor Crabill, and Greg Bennett combined to allow just a single unearned run on seven total hits in 14 innings between the two games.

Tucker and Bennett got the calls to start each game as Tucker went six innings against Texas Wesleyan, allowing the unearned run on four hits while striking out seven Rams hitters as Crabill came in to close out the seventh inning and struck out two batters. Bennett was dominant in a three-hit shutout in his first start of the season while striking out 10 SCU hitters while not allowing a walk in a 73-pitch performance.

Clarke's offense was able to strike first in each game and the top of the order provided a bulk of the damage in both contests led by a 6-for-8 day from second baseman Victor Lara as he drove in four runs and scored four more over the two games. 

In the day's opener, the Pride got out in front on a Johnny Blake two-RBI single with the bases loaded and one out as that lead would hold into the sixth inning where the offense would explode for five in the sixth and six more in the seventh to bust the game way open to its eventual 12-1 final.

CU did a a good job manufacturing their first nine runs by moving runners and timely run-producing hits from Brendan O'Connor, Lara, Jose Perez, Paul Von Zboray, and Daniel Phyle but the big blow came from the second long ball of the season from Bubba Thompson as he crushed a three-run shot for the final three runs in the top of the seventh inning.

The opening runs didn't come as early for Clarke against the Eagles but they would break through in the third inning on a Phyle RBI double that was quickly followed by a Lara RBI single to make it 2-0. Lara would double home Phyle in the fifth inning before Von Zboray doubled home Lara and the RBI double theme continued in the sixth when Andrew Swartz doubled home O'Connor to make it 5-0.

Clarke will finish up their stint at the Cajun Collision on Saturday with a pair of games at 2:30 p.m. CT and 6:00 p.m. CT when they face Wayland Baptist University and No. 19 University of Science and Arts with Johnny Blake and Isaac Rohde scheduled to get the starts on the bump.