Baseball Splits in Doubleheader at Park University

PARKVILLE, MO. - Earlier today, the Graceland University baseball team went on the road to Park University and split a non-conference doubleheader. The Yellowjackets won game one 4-2 and lost game two, 10-9. With the split, Graceland now sits at 4-14 overall on the season.

GAME 1

Graceland got the bats going early in the contest scoring two of their runs in the top of the first inning. Back-to-back extra base hits by Andres Lopez and Tanner Maskey gave the Yellowjackets their first run. Later in the inning, Matt Reyes picked up an RBI on a ground out to score Maskey to make it 2-0.

Park countered by scoring one in the bottom of the 2nd and then the tying run in the bottom of the 5th. In the top of the sixth, Jaichis Holmes would single to put two runners on base. Zak Schueller would sacrifice both runners over to open up a chance for the on deck batter, Justin Wells. Wells grounded out but scored the runner on third to give Graceland the lead back. They went into the seventh inning up 3-2 and got one more insurance run. Jerred Soriano singled to right field to score the Yellowjackets' fourth run and give themselves a two-run cushion for the final three outs. Cameron Vodraska would shut the door with a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh for the save to help Graceland win it, 4-2.

Darian Brown started on the mound for the Yellowjackets and went six innings, giving up just five hits and striking out eight Park batters. He allowed just one walk and two earned runs in the outing to get the win.

GAME 2

Lopez and Maskey would get things started again in game two with back-to-back doubles. The next batter, Alfonso Aguilera singled to left to score both runners to give Graceland a 2-0 lead out of the gate. Later in the inning, an RBI ground out from Wells put Graceland up 3-0. Park matched Graceland's three runs in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game at 3 after one inning of play.

Skylar Harris singled in the top of the second and later came around to score giving the Yellowjackets the lead back, 4-3. Again, Park was able to counter the Graceland bats with runs of their own. They would take a 9-4 lead through three innings of play. The Yellowjackets were then down 10-4 entering the sixth inning. In the sixth, they put a five spot on the board to make it just a one-run game. Wells scored on a passed ball for the first run of the frame. Another passed ball the next batter scored Darwin Marquez. Later, Matt Reyes hit a three-run shot to put the Yellowjacket back in the game. Graceland would threaten in the top of the seventh with a runner on first and just one out, but were unable to bring across the tying run. Payne Pfeiffer started the game on the mound for the Yellowjackets. He was relieved by Cody Ferguson, Felix Lopez, and Roger Camacho who combined to give up just two earned runs in 3.2 innings of work.

Graceland will have their first home games of the season this upcoming week. They will host Peru State College in a three-game set on March 7-8. They will then stay home for a non-conference series with Presentation College on March 10-11.

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