Pride beat the weather and Culver-Stockton to sweep make-up doubleheader

PEOSTA, Iowa - Able to host the twice rescheduled finale doubleheader from two weekends ago, the Clarke University baseball team earned a pair of wins over Culver-Stockton College by scores of 17-1 and 9-4 to inevitably earn the series win 3-1.

Playing as the visiting team on the scoreboard due to the games originally scheduled for Canton, Mo., the Pride definitely pounded the ball all over their home field of A.J. Spiegel Park, producing a total of 26 hits over the 13 combined innings as game two's game came to a final officially after six innings with near by lightning strikes forced an early completion in the middle of the bottom of the seventh inning, forcing the game to revert back to the end of the sixth.

Before highlighting the offensive success, the game one pitching also shined in the background of the 17-run outburst with starter Zach Arnold then relievers Lane Tyson and Pierce Bousselot combined for a four-hitter and struck out five hitters over the seven innings with Arnold going five innings allowing one earned run on three hits and three walks with four strikeouts to pick up his second win while Tyson produce a three-up, three-down sixth and Bousselot also faced the minimum with the help of a game-ending 6-4-3 double play.

At the dish, CU scored in all but two innings including a seven-run second inning and a five-run seventh inning as contributions came from up and down the lineup with 10 different hitters driving in a run and 15 different hitters reaching base either by way of hit, walk, hit by pitch, or error.

Clarke got multi-RBI games from Darin Eales, including a solo home run, Bryn Vantiger, Nico Reed, and Hunter Flores with Jordan Breen going 3-for-3, Omari Barksdale finishing 2-for-5, Cole Swartz and Alex Cashman each producing a 2-for-3 game, and Ethan Hefel going 2-for-4 to produce the multi-hit games for the Pride against the Wildcats.

Onto the finale, the Pride were able to jump out early again, this time on the second pitch of the game when Barksdale launched a leadoff home run to right center as his started his game two with the long ball, a two-RBI triple, and a single in his first three at bats to be a double away from the cycle in a 3-for-4 game with three RBIs and the run scored on the home run.

Both Vantiger and Breen launched two-run homers in the third inning to take a 4-2 game and extend it to 8-2 before Eales tripled in the fourth and was able to walk home on a throwing error that went over the CU dugout to give Clarke their nine runs that they were able to maintain.

With impending stormy weather, the Culver-Stockton was able to put two more runs on the board in the bottom of the fifth before Clarke did get through that inning and the sixth with the lead, which played important with those storms bringing lightning inside of the mandated radius to stop play during the bottom of the seventh inning, officially ending the game at the 9-4 win for the Pride.

On the mound in the finale, Curtis Anderson produced a quality three innings in the starting role to allow two earned runs on three hits and three walks with one strikeout with Hayden Vickroy and Derek Jenk combining for three relief innings with Vickroy going two innings and striking out three and Jenk striking out a pair in his one inning of work.

Pride baseball will play an official home game on Thursday evening when they plan to host their final non-conference matchup of the season when St. Ambrose University visits A.J. Spiegel Park on Apr. 16 for a scheduled 4:30 p.m. CT first pitch.