McPHERSON, Kan. — In the final home doubleheader of the 2025 season, the Bulldogs secured a pair of big victories over Friends University on Friday (Apr. 18) to secures wins number 16 and 17 in a row over the Falcons.
GAME ONE- McPherson-9 Friends-4
Marcus Patton continued his strong stretch of play down the final stretch of the season as he laced an RBI double into center field to score the first run of the contest in the bottom half of the first inning. A fielding error by the Friends third baseman with the bases loaded up allowed another run to score as MC took a 2-0 lead. It didn't take long for Friends to fight back as they went on to score four unanswered runs across the second and fifth innings of play to take a 4-2 lead into the middle innings.
Much like the 2-0 lead the Bulldogs possessed, the two run lead for the Falcons did not last long as a three run homerun by
Peyton Starr in the home half of the fifth gave MC back the lead in loud fashion. The offense kept rolling for MC as
Luke Nordean bagged an RBI single and was promptly brought home thanks to a two run homerun by
Marcus Burton as the Bulldogs ended the fifth inning up 8-4.
Patton was able to bring home another run in the sixth with an RBI single to make it 9-4 and the MC bullpen did all the rest.
Matthew Vigil entered the game in the fifth and surrendered just two runs off four hits and struck out four batters before handing the ball off to
Francisco Paradis in the ninth who recorded three straight strikeouts to give MC the victory.
GAME TWO- McPherson-10 Friends-2
Peyton Starr once again took a ball for a long ride as he blasted a solo homerun into right field to quickly give MC a 1-0 lead after the end of the first inning of play. Similar to game one, Friends wasted no time in responding as a solo homerun of their own quickly tied the game right back up at one run each of both squads.
Pitching and defense ruled much of the day as the pair of runs were all either team could muster up until the fifth inning when the Bulldog offense came to life.
Jace Essig, Starr, and
Dawson Walters all recorded two out RBI singles to score three runs and give the Bulldogs a 4-1 lead. Things once again snowballed for MC as the home team was able to score six more runs thanks to RBI base hits by
Dalton Thomas and
Koen Gakstatter and sacrifice outs by Walters and
Colby Stuart to extend the lead to 10-1.
The Friends offense was kept off balance all game offensively by
Daniel Norris, who put in potentially the best starting performance by a Bulldog pitcher this year. Norris went the distance for the Bulldogs, pitching all seven innings of play while only surrendering two runs off six hits while striking out seven batters. The strong pitching performance mixed with the offensive firepower propelled MC to a 10-2 win in game two.
The Bulldogs will wrap up the three game series with Friends tomorrow, April 19 as they play host to the Falcons on Senior Day. First pitch is set for 12:00 p.m. with the Senior Day festivities set to begin at 11:30 a.m.
