Baseball Steals a Game at Nationally Ranked Columbia

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Viterbo University Baseball team traveled to Couumbia College (Mo.), who was receiving votes in the most recent NAIA Baseball Coaches Top 25 Poll, and  returned home with a 1-2 record. The V-Hawks lost Friday, 0-2, Started Sunday with a 6-4 win, then ended the series with a 2-9 loss. VU now sits at 2-13 on the year, while the Cougars are 15-9.

In the first game, Viterbo started with two hits in the first two innings, but left dour runners stranded on base. Columbia final got on the board with a fielders choice bringing in one score, and followed that with an RBI single in the fifth inning. In the top of the seventh, Marcus Hornacek, Hunter Hess, and Carson Trumpold each recorded hits with three outs, but the V-Hawks could not convert and the cougars claimed victory.

Hess led Viterbo with two hits, while Indy Stanley had three hits for CC. Cale Beckman recorded the loss, striking out two batters, while Dan Fick earned the win with 10 strikeouts over 6.2 innings.

Viterbo started the second game hot, with four runs in the top of the first inning. Kendal Hofer, Gavin Daniel, and Hornacek each had RBI single's and Hofer scored an unearned run. While Columbia answered with two RBI doubles in the bottom of the frame, Viterbo would add another run on a Blake Warner RBI single in the second. The bottom of the third saw another Cougar run being scored, and each team would score in the fifth, Hofer coming in after Conley O'Keefe was hit by a pitch, and CC scoring on an RBI grounder. Each team would trend runners over the final two innings, but neither would score.

Blake Warner went a perfect 3-for-3 with an RBI, while Hofer was 2-for-4 with an RBI of his own. Tyler Renn went 3-for-4 for CC. Ryan Gill earned with win with four strikeouts over 4.1 innings, and Bryce Taylor recorded the loss.

The final game was all Columbia College, with the Cougars scoring at least one run in every inning, including three in the fourth on three hits. Hess scored in the fifth on a wild pitch for Viterbo, as well as getting walked in in the seventh as Camden Smith took four balls with bases loaded.

Daniel went 2-for-4, Hess went 1 -for-3, and Ben Strassman recorded the loss with the V-Hawks only K. Riley Poulton had two RBI's while hitting 2-for-4. Reece Clapp was the winning pitcher with five strikeouts.

The V-Hawks begin conference play with a series at Bellevue University (Neb.) starting next Wednesday.