May 17, 2007

Box Score

GREELEY, Colo. - Two feet was the difference between a win and a loss Thursday for the University of Northern Colorado baseball team. Unfortunately for the Bears, Kevin Sandberg's potential game-ending home run in the bottom of the ninth was caught by at at the wall by a leaping South Dakota State outfielder to help preserve the Jackrabbits' 5-4 win.

In the ninth, John Ray opened the inning by getting hit by a pitch from Jacks' (30-18) closer Jacob Kougl, and Sandberg followed with his near-game ender. Grady Gorman extended the inning with grounder to third that was hit too hard for the Jacks' fielder to play, advancing Ray to second. However, the game ended with a fly out to right and a grounder to first base.

The turning point in the game came in the top of the fifth, when Bears (14-32) starter Dan Kazell fielded a sacrifice bunt on the third-base side and threw the ball over Sandberg's head at first, allowing two runs to score and tie the game. The Jacks would later score two unearned runs in the inning to take their first lead at 4-2.

The Bears had opened the scoring in the first behind doubles from Cory Morales, Ray and Gorman. Ray's two-bagger to left center extended his career-best hitting streak to 16 games.

In the bottom of the seventh, Northern Colorado retied the game when Gorman dropped a bloop single into left field, scoring Morales and Ray, who had reached on a walk and double, respectively.

SDSU got the game-winning run in the top of the eighth, when it opened the inning with a single and a RBI double.

Kazell pitched very effectively in his ninth start of the season, scattering five hits and a walk over seven innings of work. Of the four runs he allowed, only two were earned, marking the third consecutive game that he's gone at least seven innings and allowed two earned runs. He also struck out seven.

Ray continued his torrid season with a 3-for-3 afternoon, including a pair of doubles to give him 18 on the season. He scored a pair of runs and drove in another.

Gorman also had three hits, and drove in a game-high three runs. Cory Morales also had three hits, making Thursday's game just the third time this season the Bears have had three players record at least three hits in the same game.

The Bears will close out their regular season on Friday with another game against South Dakota State, starting at 2 p.m. KFKA's Troy Coverdale will have the call, and the game will be broadcast on 1310 AM on a 6 p.m. tape delay.