Photo by Natalia Ahrens
Atchison, Kan. – The McPherson College baseball team got the 2022 season off to a bang, winning their season opener on the road against Benedictine College 20-6.
On a cold blustery February afternoon with temps at the start of the game hovering just above freezing, the Bulldogs smashed 17 hits, with seven of them going for extra bases. Five Bulldogs registered multiple hits in the game, led by Gage Ninness, who was 5 of 6 with a double, and four runs scored. The two big hits came off of the bats of James Canar, and Jake Pearson. Canar got the Bulldogs on the board with a two run home run in the top of the first, and Pearson added a three run bomb in the top of the 8th.
Alex Escobar got the start for the Bulldogs on the mound. He went four and two-thirds, scattering five hits, and giving up four runs. He finished with six strikeouts and had two walks, picking up the win on opening day. The Bulldogs used four other pitchers in relief of Escobar. Noah Carpenter, Darby Gilbert, Matt Whitney, and Robbie Schmidt pitched the final four and a third combining for two runs allowed on three hits. Carpenter had four Ks, Gilbert and Schmidt finished with three, and Whitney fanned one.
The Bulldogs scored in each of the first three innings, starting with Canar's two run home run in the first. They added three in the second, and four more in the third to jump out to a 9-0 lead. The Ravens finally got on the board in the bottom of the fifth, scoring four runs. The Bulldogs had a big sixth inning plating six runs and extending their lead to 15-4.
Benedictine added a run in their half of the sixth, but a half inning later the Bulldogs put up three more runs to lead 17-5. In the eighth the Bulldogs added three more to lead 20-5 and the Ravens scored their final run in the bottom of the inning to make the final score 20-6.
The Bulldogs (1-0) will be back on the diamond again Sunday afternoon for two more against the Ravens. First pitch is set for 12:00 pm.
