Courtesy of Midland Athletics
FREMONT, Neb. – Midland University wrapped up its four-game series with Mount Marty University on Saturday afternoon at Moller Field. After dropping the first two games of the weekend, the Warriors split with the Lancers. In game one, Midland made a comeback for the 4-3 win. Game two saw the Warriors’ second comeback attempt fall short, taking a tough 13-10 loss.
GAME ONE: Midland 4, Mount Marty 3
After two quiet innings, Yealex Lopez started the Warriors off with a single to center field. On two errors on the Lancers, Lopez found his way home to put the Warriors up 1-0 after three innings.
The Lancers broke their scoreless spell in the top of the 4th, driving in three runs to take the lead.
After a quiet 5th inning, Joshua Hardamon got the Warriors going with a home run to right center. Alec Villanueva single to get aboard and then Connor Petersen launched a two-run homer left field to put the Warriors up 4-3.
Darius Blasingane came in to close out the game in the top of the 7th, holding the Lancers in check to complete the game one win, 4-3.
Statistical Standouts
- Joshua Hardamon: 1-for-3, R, RBI, HR
- Connor Petersen: 1-for-2, R, 2 RBI, HR
- Cody Kent: 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 K, WIN
- Darius Blasingane: 1.0 IP, 2H, 1 K, SAVE
GAME TWO: Mount Marty 13, Midland 10
The Lancers started strong in the top of the 1st, driving in two runs to take the early lead.
Yealex Lopez opened up the home half of the inning with a single and then Joshua Hardamon followed with a single to bring Lopez home.
Mount Marty added to its tally with a home run in the 2nd and took a 3-1 lead into the 5th inning. In the 5th, they added another homer, driving in three more runs to push their lead to 6-1.
Midland responded in the bottom half of the 5th as Lopez and Jacob Liquori hit back-to-back singles to start the momentum. Hadyn Crawford took advantage of the runners as he blasted a three-run home run to left center, cutting into the gap, 6-4.
The Warriors kept it going in the bottom of the 6th, with Connor Petersen reaching first on an error by the Lancers. Garrett Freeman struck his bat for a homer to tie the game at 6-6.
Mount Marty strung together three doubles that drove in four runs to push their lead back to 10-6 in the top of the 7th.
With three at-bats left, the Warriors started to mount a comeback. Jacob Liquori started off the bottom of the 7th with a triple to right center. Hadyn Crawford struck his bat for his second home run of the game, scoring two runs. Deven Gomez kept Midland going with a single and then Petersen singled to drive in Gomez to leave the Warriors trailing by one run, 10-9.
The Lancers’ lead bumped back up as they hit two home runs, scoring three runs, in the 9th.
Needing to narrow the gap once more, the Warriors got back-to-back singles by Gomez and Villanueva. A groundout brought home Gomez with two outs and after a walk brought the tying run to the plate, the Lancers closed the book on the game as they induced a flyout to earn the Saturday split, 13-10.
Statistical Standouts
- Yealex Lopez: 2-for-5, 2 R
- Jacob Liquori: 2-for-5, 2 R, 3B
- Hadyn Crawford: 3-for-5, 2 R, 5 RBI, 2 HR
- Deven Gomez: 3-for-4, 2 R, 2B, BB
- Garrett Freeman: 2-for-4, 2 R, 2 RBI
“We played four close games against a quality opponent. We’ve been doing a good job all year of finding ways to win close games, just didn’t happen this weekend,” said head coach Shea Bennett. “Still a lot of positives that came from it. We will continue to learn from our mistakes and get better as we go.”
Midland (21-9, 7-5 GPAC) will get a week’s rest before hosting No. 17 Concordia (23-8, 7-3 GPAC) on Saturday, April 6. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. with game two to follow at Moller Field in Fremont.
