The baseball team won three games against Northwest Missouri over the weekend.
Games one and two were on Saturday, Mar. 20 and the team won both of them (7-1, 6-3). The Gorillas closed out the weekend on Sunday, Mar. 21 and won the final game of the series (9-2).
“We played pretty good,” said Head Coach Bob Fornelli. “It was a tough day to score with the wind blowing in, but it was a good day to pitch. So, I thought we pitched pretty good all weekend, didn’t walk very many guys, and found a way to win three games and get back on track.”
Caleb Carr, master’s student in health, human performance and recreation, was happy with how the team performed.
“Our team did well this weekend,” Carr said. “Our pitching staff held them to only six runs on the weekend and that gives us a chance to win games.”
In game one, Greyson Pinkett earned the Gorillas’ first run, which the Bearcats countered with a run of their own to tie the game 1-1 on the bottom of the sixth. The Gorillas retaliated with six unanswered runs in the tops of the eighth. Dave Henderson allowed four hits and struck out five Bearcats in seven innings of work.
In game two, Ryan Koval started off with a triple. Nick Brown allowed four hits, striking out five, in five innings.
In game three, Garrett McGowan delivered a three-run double. Koval, Carr, and Aranda all gathered two hits each. Peyton Ingalla allowed one run and three hits in five innings of work, registering six strikeouts.
“Dave Henderson was really good as a pitcher,” Fornelli said. “Ryan Koval and Cruz Aranda had a good offensive weekend.”
Koval, a junior in justice studies, thought the team played well.
“To start off the first game of the weekend, Greyson Pinkett, got us going with a home run in the first, and Dave Henderson threw exceptionally well for us,” Koval said. “In the second game Nick Brown had a solid outing for us, and Cruz Aranda came up with a really big hit that gave us the lead late in the game. In the third game we jumped out on them early and held on for the sweep. As far as performances, I thought Cruz had a really good weekend at the plate, and that our pitching staff did a good job attacking hitters.”
Some of the same players stood out to Carr.
“David Henderson threw extremely well throwing seven innings allowing only one run,” Carr said. “Peyton Ingalls threw five innings allowing three hits and one run. Offensively, Ryan Koval led our team with six hits including two triples on the weekend along with Cruz Aranda who had five hits.”
Next up for the Gorillas is another weekend series, this time against Central Oklahoma in Edmond. Games one and two are on Saturday, Mar. 27 at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. Game three is on Sunday, Mar. 28 at 1 p.m.
“(I’m hoping to see the team) just continue to get better each and every day,” Fornelli said. “We got a tough weekend with Central Oklahoma, so we need to go in there and play well.”