Baseball Salvages Doubleheader Split With 9-7 Victory
April 8, 2006
GREELEY, Colo. - Junior Brennan Garr hit his first home run of the season and came into the game in the ninth inning to record the ninth save of his career, setting the Northern Colorado career record in helping the Bears to a 9-7 victory and doubleheader split with South Dakota State on Saturday at Jackson Field.
The win helped Northern Colorado (10-19) salvage a split with the Jackrabbits (11-15), who took the first game of Saturday's doubleheader by a 10-8 margin.
Garr, who had seven saves last season, recorded his first save since Feb. 24 in breaking the school record of eight held previously by Greg Cook (1972-74). He pitched the final two-thirds of the ninth inning, walking two and striking out two.
Garr also did it with his bat, going 2-for-5 in the second game of the doubleheader after going 3-for-6 in the opener. He broke out of his season-long power slump by blasting his first round-tripper of the season, a two-run shot in the seventh inning that proved to be the difference in the game. It was his first home run since the final game of the 2005 season (which came against NYIT).
"Both games mirror each other today," Bears head coach Kevin Smallcomb said after the contest. "We battled back all day, going down 8-0 in game one but coming back to bring the tying run to the plate twice. And when we got up big in the second game, SDSU fought back.
"The guys that had got it done for us earlier this season, Johns and Pearson, struggled today, but guys like Maydew and Allen really stepped up for us today. We are looking forward to a chance to win the series tomorrow."
Starter Roy Allen (1-1) was the difference-maker early, pitching six strong innings, allowing five hits and two runs. The senior - making his first appearance since March 12, a stretch of 26 days - struck out six and did not walk any of the 24 batters he faced.
That allowed his team to build an early 7-0 lead, the opposite of Saturday's first game when the Bears fell behind 8-0 after two innings. Northern Colorado scored twice in the second inning on RBI singles by Seth Tartler and Chad Clark. But the big inning was the fourth, when UNC scored four times, with Ray singling home two runs to cap the frame.
Ray, who hit his first home run of the season in the opener, finished the second game 1-for-5 with two RBI and was a combined 4-for-9 with four RBI in the doubleheader to raise his average over 20 points.
Zach Brockman, who was 4-for-5 in the second game, singled home a run in the fifth inning as the Bears lead reached its zenith at 7-0.
But just as the Bears fought back in game one, the Jacks did so in game two. Two triples in the sixth inning plated a pair of SDSU runs and the Jacks got to reliever Tyler Pearson in the seventh, scoring three more times with the big hit being a two-run single by Nick Adams.
But Garr's blast in the bottom of the seventh pushed the advantage back to four runs, which was important when Pearson allowed two runs to start the ninth inning. Garr would then come on and shut the door in the frame to record his historic save.
Pearson allowed seven hits and five earned runs in his 2.1 innings on the mound. The appearance was the 50th of his three-year Bear career.
SDSU starter Matt Bowman (1-4) was the losing pitcher, allowing 14 hits and seven runs in five innings. Isaac Johnson, Chris Reynolds and Jake Angier all pitched in relief of Bowman.
Five Bears hitters had multiple hits, including Clark going 3-for-4 with his first career triple.
Adams was 4-for-5 with four RBI for the Jacks.
The two teams will conclude their three-game series on Sunday with a Noon game. The game can be heard live on 1310 KFKA and free online at UNCBears.com.
