ROCKLIN, Calif. – Bushnell opened up their second weekend of the season with a pair of losses to William Jessup University, but not before collecting four home runs.
The Warriors (7-4) collected 29 hits combined over the two games while the Beacons (0-6) posted 16.
"It was a tough day today," said Head Coach
Tommy Richards. "We set a bad tone with poor pitching and defense in game one. We came out and battled early in game two but we just need to do a better job in innings after we score. Errors were the catalyst in allowing big innings."
GAME ONE: William Jessup 15, Bushnell 3
The Beacon offense collected eight hits in the first game, led by Junior
Jeff Fripp. The designated hitter made his season debut for the Beacons, hitting 2-for-2 with a pair of doubles and a run scored.
Freshman
Noah Montoya also had a productive game, hitting his first home run of the season in the top of the second inning. He added a second RBI on an RBI fielder's choice.
Sophomore
Ethan Sachs (0-2) got the start for the Beacons and went five innings, giving up 17 hits. It was an eight-run third inning that proved to be Bushnell's demise. Freshman
Colby Knutzen came on in relief and gave the Beacons a bright spot, throwing three scoreless innings with a strikeout.
GAME TWO: William Jessup 10, Bushnell 6 (7 Innings)
Bushnell showed a little life in the night cap before falling in the seven-inning affair. Freshman
Jacob Stoner added his name to the "trivia files" as he produced the first multi-homer game for the Beacons since relaunching the program this year. His first was a two-run blast in the second inning that gave the Beacons a brief 2-0 lead.
"I was just going up there with a plan, trying to see pitches I could handle and I got that today," said Stoner. "Just driving pitches that I could."
Freshman
Jordan Wilson added a three-run homer and Stoner popped a solo shot in the top of the fifth when Bushnell closed the gap to 9-6.
Sophomore
Adam Sabatino got the start for the Beacons and struck out one, allowing nine earned runs on ten hits over the first four innings. Freshman
Jayden Soriano threw the final two innings in relief, allowing one earned.
The teams will return to the field at 11:00 am on Saturday for another double-header, also scheduled to go nine innings in game one and seven innings in game two. "Tomorrow is a new day," said Richards. "We need to just get better one day at a time and not get consumed with results at this point in our development."
Stoner added, "We are just looking for that first win. All of us feel that if we get that one that we can start to pick up some momentum."
