University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Friday, February 17
San Francisco, Calif.
3:00 pm
University of Northern Colorado
0
6
at
7
San Francisco
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Northern Colorado
0
0
0
0
1
3
2
0
0
6
8
0
San Francisco
0
1
3
0
0
0
0
2
1
7
12
1
@NCBearsBaseball Drops First Two Games of 2017 Season
2/18/2017 7:49:00 PM | Baseball
Northern Colorado baseball opened its season dropping its first two games to San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO – Northern Colorado baseball finished its first two games of the season on Saturday, after beginning the first yesterday before it was suspended due to rain. The Bears dropped both games, by the scores of 7-6 and 8-3, respectively.
Game 1
How It Happened
Northern Colorado's offense started off strong with a pair of opportunities to strike early in the first and second inning that ended up producing nothing. Dean
Lawson and Corey Nakakura hit back-to-back singles in the first, but then a pair of strike outs ended the Bears half of the inning.
In the second, Brett Minnick double down the left field line in his first at-bat of the game. He tried to score on an Alex Kiel single up the middle, but was thrown out at the plate.
While the Bears missed on the earlier opportunities, USF ended up being the team to strike first. Ross Puskarich singled with an out, then advanced to second on a passed ball to set up first run of the game. He came home on a Harrison Bruce single as the Dons took the 1-0 lead in the second.
The third inning was the big inning for San Francisco as they scored three runs. Cody Carroll struggled with his command walking a pair of Dons and then allowing a single to load the bases. Puskarich came through for USF with a two-run scoring single through the right side.
Manny Ramirez Jr added another run for USF with another RBI single for the team, giving the Dons a 4-0 lead after three.
Northern Colorado started to make its way back in the game when Minnick stepped back into the batter's box in the fifth inning. He hit his first home run of the season, a solo shot to cut San Francisco's lead to 4-1.
The long ball helped UNC tie the game up in the sixth with Jack Pauley hit a three-run homer in his first career game as a Bear.
San Francisco threatened in the bottom half of the inning, putting a pair on before a 25 minute rain delay. Following it, another walk loaded the bases, but
Karver Pate worked his way out of it with three straight outs including a pair of Ks.
As the team's tried to beat out the rain, UNC's hitters became more patient at the plate as Tyler Yamaguchi, Nick Tanner, Lawson and Nakakura each earned a walk to begin the seventh, and put UNC up 5-4. The game then became halted until Saturday at that point as Cole Maltese prepared to step up to the plate.
When play resumed Maltese took advantage of the situation with a sacrifice fly to center field brining home Tanner. USF escaped the rest of the inning undamaged though as the Bears led 6-4.
After going down in order in the seventh, San Francisco battled back in the eighth. The Dons rally began when Tyler Villaroman walked to begin the inning. He would later score on a Nico Giarratano double down the left field line cutting the Bears lead to one.
USF tied the game up with an infield single by Dominic Miroglia, and the teams entered the ninth all-square at six.
Brady Bate doubled to start the Dons half of the ninth, and ended up the game-winning run when Matt Sinatro hit a walk-off single three batters later.
Game Changer
Facing a 6-4 deficit and stepping into the batter's box of his first time collegiantly, Tyler Villaroman didn't look nerves at all. He worked a walk to start San Francisco's two-run rally in the eighth as they came back on the Bears.
Notable
- Northern Colorado's pitchers struggled with their command at times, walking 11 Dons in the game.
- A pair of Bears recorded multiple hits in the game, in Cole Maltese and Brett Minnick with two apiece.
- UNC worked its way out of jams a few times, forcing San Francisco to strand 13 runners.
Game 2
How It Happened
San Francisco carried the momentum from the walk-off earlier in the day with them into the begging of the second game. The Dons saw six hitters reach base in the first two innings, two via errors by the Bears. Half of those runners ended up coming home to give the team a 3-0 lead.
UNC starter Keenan Lum settled in after that though, going another 2.1 innings, before San Francisco struck again to add to its lead.
USF tacked on three runs on four hits in the inning to put the Bears in a 6-0 hole.
Northern Colorado responded by getting a pair of those runs back in the sixth. Dean Lawson and Corey Nakakura both walked to start the inning. Lawson came around to score on a fielder's choice from Jack Pauley to trim the USF lead to 6-1.
Evan Johnson then reached on an error allowing Cole Maltese to score from second base making it a 6-2 game.
San Francisco grew its lead back to six with a couple of runs in the seventh.
The Bears continued to battle and tried to come back, including Maltese hitting his first home run of the season to get UNC within the mark of 8-3, but that would be it.
Game Changer
San Francisco starter Grant Goodman had a solid first outing of 2017, going six full innings allowing just two runs, one unearned, and four hits. He wasn't a big swing and miss guy with four strike outs, but he did have good command walking just two Bears.
Notable
- San Francisco picked up the extra base on half of their hits in the game, with seven doubles out of their 14 hits. Five Dons had multi-hit games.
- Dean Lawson was the lone UNC hitter to record multiple hits, going 2-for-3 in the game, and also drew a walk.
- Over the first two games, eight UNC players made their debut for the Bears.
Quotable
Head Coach Carl Iwasaki
"It was a good effort in game one from the team to work back from a four run deficient to come back and take the lead. Brett Minnick, Jack Pauley and Cole Maltese got us going offensively in that game, while Karver Pate and Jacob Howard gave us a chance from the mound to earn the win. We will need to continue reduce the amount of walks and unearned runs we gave up to pick up the wins. That and timely hitting will be keys to a successful early part to our season."
What's Next?
With the rain messing up today's scheduled doubleheader, the teams will now play two tomorrow. The first game will begin at 12 pm MT and game two will start approximately 40 minutes after game one. UNC will be sending RHP Aaron Hamilton to the mound in game one, and another righty in Ian Doughty for game two.
Game 1
How It Happened
Northern Colorado's offense started off strong with a pair of opportunities to strike early in the first and second inning that ended up producing nothing. Dean
Lawson and Corey Nakakura hit back-to-back singles in the first, but then a pair of strike outs ended the Bears half of the inning.
In the second, Brett Minnick double down the left field line in his first at-bat of the game. He tried to score on an Alex Kiel single up the middle, but was thrown out at the plate.
While the Bears missed on the earlier opportunities, USF ended up being the team to strike first. Ross Puskarich singled with an out, then advanced to second on a passed ball to set up first run of the game. He came home on a Harrison Bruce single as the Dons took the 1-0 lead in the second.
The third inning was the big inning for San Francisco as they scored three runs. Cody Carroll struggled with his command walking a pair of Dons and then allowing a single to load the bases. Puskarich came through for USF with a two-run scoring single through the right side.
Manny Ramirez Jr added another run for USF with another RBI single for the team, giving the Dons a 4-0 lead after three.
Northern Colorado started to make its way back in the game when Minnick stepped back into the batter's box in the fifth inning. He hit his first home run of the season, a solo shot to cut San Francisco's lead to 4-1.
The long ball helped UNC tie the game up in the sixth with Jack Pauley hit a three-run homer in his first career game as a Bear.
San Francisco threatened in the bottom half of the inning, putting a pair on before a 25 minute rain delay. Following it, another walk loaded the bases, but
Karver Pate worked his way out of it with three straight outs including a pair of Ks.
As the team's tried to beat out the rain, UNC's hitters became more patient at the plate as Tyler Yamaguchi, Nick Tanner, Lawson and Nakakura each earned a walk to begin the seventh, and put UNC up 5-4. The game then became halted until Saturday at that point as Cole Maltese prepared to step up to the plate.
When play resumed Maltese took advantage of the situation with a sacrifice fly to center field brining home Tanner. USF escaped the rest of the inning undamaged though as the Bears led 6-4.
After going down in order in the seventh, San Francisco battled back in the eighth. The Dons rally began when Tyler Villaroman walked to begin the inning. He would later score on a Nico Giarratano double down the left field line cutting the Bears lead to one.
USF tied the game up with an infield single by Dominic Miroglia, and the teams entered the ninth all-square at six.
Brady Bate doubled to start the Dons half of the ninth, and ended up the game-winning run when Matt Sinatro hit a walk-off single three batters later.
Game Changer
Facing a 6-4 deficit and stepping into the batter's box of his first time collegiantly, Tyler Villaroman didn't look nerves at all. He worked a walk to start San Francisco's two-run rally in the eighth as they came back on the Bears.
Notable
- Northern Colorado's pitchers struggled with their command at times, walking 11 Dons in the game.
- A pair of Bears recorded multiple hits in the game, in Cole Maltese and Brett Minnick with two apiece.
- UNC worked its way out of jams a few times, forcing San Francisco to strand 13 runners.
Game 2
How It Happened
San Francisco carried the momentum from the walk-off earlier in the day with them into the begging of the second game. The Dons saw six hitters reach base in the first two innings, two via errors by the Bears. Half of those runners ended up coming home to give the team a 3-0 lead.
UNC starter Keenan Lum settled in after that though, going another 2.1 innings, before San Francisco struck again to add to its lead.
USF tacked on three runs on four hits in the inning to put the Bears in a 6-0 hole.
Northern Colorado responded by getting a pair of those runs back in the sixth. Dean Lawson and Corey Nakakura both walked to start the inning. Lawson came around to score on a fielder's choice from Jack Pauley to trim the USF lead to 6-1.
Evan Johnson then reached on an error allowing Cole Maltese to score from second base making it a 6-2 game.
San Francisco grew its lead back to six with a couple of runs in the seventh.
The Bears continued to battle and tried to come back, including Maltese hitting his first home run of the season to get UNC within the mark of 8-3, but that would be it.
Game Changer
San Francisco starter Grant Goodman had a solid first outing of 2017, going six full innings allowing just two runs, one unearned, and four hits. He wasn't a big swing and miss guy with four strike outs, but he did have good command walking just two Bears.
Notable
- San Francisco picked up the extra base on half of their hits in the game, with seven doubles out of their 14 hits. Five Dons had multi-hit games.
- Dean Lawson was the lone UNC hitter to record multiple hits, going 2-for-3 in the game, and also drew a walk.
- Over the first two games, eight UNC players made their debut for the Bears.
Quotable
Head Coach Carl Iwasaki
"It was a good effort in game one from the team to work back from a four run deficient to come back and take the lead. Brett Minnick, Jack Pauley and Cole Maltese got us going offensively in that game, while Karver Pate and Jacob Howard gave us a chance from the mound to earn the win. We will need to continue reduce the amount of walks and unearned runs we gave up to pick up the wins. That and timely hitting will be keys to a successful early part to our season."
What's Next?
With the rain messing up today's scheduled doubleheader, the teams will now play two tomorrow. The first game will begin at 12 pm MT and game two will start approximately 40 minutes after game one. UNC will be sending RHP Aaron Hamilton to the mound in game one, and another righty in Ian Doughty for game two.
Team Stats
Batting:
2B: Minnick, Brett 1
HR: Pauley, Jack 1 ; Minnick, Brett 1
RBI: Nakakura, Corey 1 ; Maltese, Cole 1 ; Pauley, Jack 3 ; Minnick, Brett 1
SF: Maltese, Cole 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Tanner, Nick 1 ; Nakakura, Corey 1 ; Maltese, Cole 1 ; Pauley, Jack 1 ; Minnick, Brett 1 ; Yamaguchi, Tyler 1
CS: Minnick, Brett 1
HBP: Minnick, Brett 1
Batting:
2B: Giarratano, Nico 1 ; Bate, Brady 2
RBI: Sinatro, Matt 1 ; Giarratano, Nico 1 ; Miroglio, Dominic 1 ; Puskarich, Ross 2 ; Ramirez Jr., Manny 1 ; Bruce, Harrison 1
SH: Sinatro, Matt 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Giarratano, Nico 1 ; Smoot, Allen 1 ; Miroglio, Dominic 1 ; Perri, Michael 1 ; Puskarich, Ross 1 ; Bate, Brady 1 ; Villaroman, Tyler 1
SB: Bruce, Harrison 1
CS: Giarratano, Nico 1
Game Leaders
Hitting
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
0
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
LHP
/ BaseballUT
/ BaseballINF/RHP
/ BaseballINF/RHP
/ Baseball
LHP
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
OF/LHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballWeek 3 - Head Coach Lamb Press Conference
Wednesday, September 10
Head Coach Ed Lamb Press Conference 9/3/2025
Wednesday, September 03
Izzi Bennett and Bella LePore Post Game Press Conference vs Colorado State
Wednesday, September 03
Head Coach Lyndsey Oates Post Game Press Conference vs Colorado State
Wednesday, September 03
