Baseball
USAO Wins Conference Opener

SHAWNEE – Staying positive is easy to say but isn’t easy to do – especially when you are down 8-1 through four innings. Staying positive, though, was exactly what the University of Science and Arts’ baseball team rallying for a 16-15 road win over St. Gregory’s Thursday afternoon in the conference opener.

USAO improved to 5-3 overall and 1-0 in the league with its fourth straight over the Cavaliers dating back to last season.

After a perfect first inning, USAO pitcher Brian Hunnicutt gave up two home runs and Bill Boss gave up another in the second inning as SGU stormed out to a 6-1 lead. USAO lone run came when Joel Atchley drove in Louie Romero with a double to left center in the top half.

SGU scored two more runs in the fourth inning, and the Drovers found themselves down 8-1. Everything changed in the sixth inning, though.

“I just kept telling them to stay positive,” head coach L.J. Powell said. “Stay positive, work hard and good things will happen. And they did work hard.”

Cody Hines blasted his first home run of the season to right center to score Scott Ylda and Romero and make the score 8-4. Despite two more SGU runs in the bottom of the sixth and a 10-4 deficit, the Drovers stayed positive.

In the seventh, with a pre-at bat rub of Powell’s head for luck, Brandt Lierle started off the inning with a shot to straight away center field for his first homer of the season. Ylda and Daniel Wood followed Lierle’s homer with back-to-back doubles, and Hines’ two-out double to left center scored Ylda and Wood to cut the SGU lead to 10-7.

The game changed dramatically in the eighth as eight straight Drover batters scored. Brad Sylvester started the eighth with a solo home run to left field. Bryan Jones drew a walk and Ryan Birney and Lierle followed with singles. SGU added two errors, a hit batsman and a passed ball to an offensive show that was capped by Hines’ two-run double, and USAO led 15-10.

SGU answered in the bottom of the eighth with a three-run homer to make the score 15-13. USAO scored what proved to be the game-winning run in the top of the ninth when Birney led off the inning with a single to right field. Birney moved to third on a Lierle single, and Ylda collected the game-winning RBI on a ground out.

With inclement weather moving into the area this weekend, Saturday’s doubleheader against SGU has been tentatively rescheduled for to 1 p.m. Sunday at USAO’s Bill Smith Ballpark. The game could be moved to Monday or Tuesday, though, with the threat of severe weather lingering through the weekend.

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