BPCU Has Tough Road Series With St. Thomas

Courtesy of BPCU

The Brewton-Parker Christian University Barons baseball team were in Miami Gardens, FL to face off with the Bobcats of St. Thomas in a 4-game series including a final game 15 inning thriller.

Game 1

The Brewton-Parker Christian University Barons baseball team had a late-game rally that came up short in their 11-14 loss against the St. Thomas University Bobcats on February 5, to open their four-game series.

St. Thomas seized control early, scoring twice in the first inning and adding a five-run third and a four-run fifth to build an 11-0 lead through five innings. Brewton-Parker’s offense finally broke through in the late frames, putting up four runs in the seventh, five in the eighth, and two more in the ninth to bring the tying run to the plate, but the Barons ran out of outs in the three-run loss. T heBarons’comeback bid was powered by the heart of the order. Marquette Gibson went 3-for-5 with four RBIs, including a three-run home run in the eighth that pulled Brewton-Parker within 12-9 and shifted momentum squarely into the visiting dugout. Anthony Savarese added a big night of his own, finishing with two hits, a home run, and four RBIs, highlighted by a two-run single as part of a four-run seventh that got Brewton-Parker on the board and trimmed the margin to 12-4.

Brewton-Parker continued to chip away in the ninth. Gibson delivered an RBI single, and another run came home on a wild pitch, cutting the deficit to 14-11 and bringing further life to the Barons’ dugout. The Bobcats reliever, however, was able to record the final outs to preserve the win and cap a highscoring contest that featured a combined 25 runs and 22 hits.

Game 2

The Brewton-Parker Christian University Barons baseball team dropped game one of the doubleheader with the St. Thomas University Bobcats on February 6. The Barons, despite a strong start in the first, were unable to stop the Bobcats' offense, losing game one 17-4 to start the day.

The Barons briefly grabbed momentum at the top of the first when Anthony Savarese opened the scoring with a solo home run, one of two long balls for Brewton-Parker on the day. But St. Thomas answered immediately, driving in five runs in the bottom half of the inning to put the Barons in a 5-2 hole. St. Thomas added another five-run burst in the second inning to stretch the margin to 10-2 and seize control of the contest.

Offensively, Brewton- Parker tallied eight hits and showed some extra-base power despite the deficit. Savarese’s first-inning blast set the tone, and Raul Morales later added a solo home run to left field in the fifth, accounting for the Barons’ second homer of the afternoon and trimming the score to 12-4 at the time. Jeremi Lara provided a steady presence in the middle of the order, finishing 3-for-4 with two doubles to lead Brewton-Parker in hits and extrabase knocks. The Barons’ pitching staff struggled to keep the Bobcats off the board in game one.

Game 3

Game two saw the Barons build an early lead in the middle innings, scoring three runs in the third and two in the fourth to get a 5-0 lead over the Bobcats. The Bobcats began slowly chipping away at the Barons' lead before a decisive five-run tally in the eighth innings gave the Barons the cushion they needed to steal the third game of the four-game set with the Bobcats.

Michael Son led the Barons offensively, going 3-5 and driving in two runs on a homerun in the fourth inning. The Barons had more support from Fred Guzman Diaz, who also turned in a three-hit night with two runs scored, and Caleb Strott matched the threehit effort while scoring twice and driving in a run. The Barons had solid pitching early in the game from Hayden Berry, who threw five complete innings and grabbed the win.

Head Coach Aaron Larsen reflected on the day, saying, “I really liked how our group responded in game two today. We got a quality outing from a true freshman in Hayden [Berry] and our bats stayed hot all game.”

Game 4

The Brewton-Parker Christian University Barons baseball team lost in a heartbreaking 15-inning clash with the Bobcats of St. Thomas University (Fla.), dropping the game 6- 5.

Brewton-Parker set the tone early with a tworun first inning. Michael Son singled to right to drive in the first run of the afternoon, and an error at first base on the same play allowed a second run to score, giving the Barons a 2-0 advantage. The Barons’ offense struck again in the fifth inning to regain control. Anthony Savarese ripped a double and later scored on a wild pitch, and Jeremi Lara followed with an RBI single to push the lead to 4-2.

Offensively, the Barons finished with 13 hits and drew four walks while being hit by five pitches, but stranded eight runners in the lengthy contest. Brewton- Parker’s lineup produced two runs in both the first and fifth innings and added the goahead run in the sixth, yet could not break through against the St. Thomas bullpen in extras. The Barons were limited to one hit over the final nine innings as the Bobcats’ relievers combined for 20 strikeouts in 15.0 innings overall.

After more than eight scoreless innings of baseball, St. Thomas finally broke through in the bottom of the 15th. The Bobcats loaded the bases and pushed across the winning unearned run when the Barons walked in the game-winning run.

The Barons had their home opener on Tuesday of this week after presstime against Reinhardt University. They will play a 4-game home series against Indiana University South Bend this weekend.