Baseball Loses Pair of High-Scoring Games

(Sioux City, IA) – After Briar Cliff took down the Broncos in the first two games of the series on Saturday, Hastings lost a 7-6 heartbreaker that they led 6-3 going to the seventh in game one and fell 17-12 in game two.

Hastings got off to a hot start early as junior Coletin Renn hit a one-out single and went to third on a double from sophomore Jared Delgado. Freshman Jordin Albertson knocked in both runners with a two-out single to go up 2-0. Briar Cliff got a run in their half inning to make it 2-1.

In the second inning, Hastings capitalized on three Charger errors with senior Alliskair Descartes scoring on a ball off the from junior Jaden Stone to push lead back to 3-1. Briar Cliff answered back with a run on an RBI double to bring it back to a one-run lead in the third, then tied it up at three-all in the fourth.

A three-run inning from the Broncos gave them a 6-3 lead after Albertson walked with one out and senior Mason Masur knocked him in on an RBI single, then after senior Dylan Otto was hit by a pitch, Descartes drove in the last two runs of the inning with a double.

Hastings took the lead to the seventh, but Briar Cliff put up four runs in the final frame to walk it off. The first two batters reached, then after a strikeout, the Chargers scored their first run of the inning on a sac fly. Next, they hit a double and Hastings intentionally walked the next batter to load the bases. On a 1-1 count, Briar Cliff singled to left that initially scored two runs to tie it, but the throw home from the Broncos got away, allowing the winning run to score via walk-off, 7-6.

The Broncos out-hit the Chargers, 12-9, despite the loss. Stone, Renn, Descartes, Masur, and junior Jace Valdez all recorded two hits in the games, while Descartes and Albertson led the team with two RBIs in game one.

Briar Cliff came out swinging the bats well in game two as well, hitting a two-run home run and later putting up two more with two outs to take a 4-0 lead going to the second.

Senior Elijah Merritt and junior Tristan Martinez singled to get two on with two out to set up an RBI single from senior Vince Byrne, making it 2-1. Hastings tied it up at four in the third by scoring three runs, all driven in by Delgado on a home run.

Briar Cliff hit two solo home runs in their first three at-bats of the third, but Hastings responded with two in the top of the fourth to tie it at six-all with Renn doubling in Stone then coming around himself to score on an error.

In the top of the fifth, Renn singled to put runners on first and second with two out, allowing Delgado to drive in a run. Merritt followed him up with a three-run home run to put the Broncos ahead 10-6.

The game turned in the next half inning however, as Briar Cliff scored eight runs on five hits, including a grand slam to cap off the inning with a four-run lead. They added three more runs in the seventh inning to go up 17-10.

In the ninth, Hastings loaded the bases with a pair of base hits and a walk, setting up a two-run RBI single by senior Caleb Duinink. The Chargers got Hastings to fly out to end the comeback attempt in the next at-bat to secure the 17-12 win.

Hastings recorded 18 hits in the game, with Martinez, Renn, Delgado, and Merritt all getting three each, while Stone and Duinink had two. Delgado led the team with four RBIs, along with three from Merritt.

Up next, Hastings will host Midland on Thursday, April 17 in the final home doubleheader of the season, starting at 1pm.