University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Tuesday, March 21
Greeley, Colo.
2:00 pm
University of Northern Colorado
8-12
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Regis
16-7
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Regis University
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Northern Colorado
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Photo by: Rob Trubia
@NCBearsBaseball Unable to Find Timely Hit vs Regis
3/21/2017 7:08:00 PM | Baseball
Northern Colorado baseball fell to Regis 5-4, after being unable to get timely hit
GREELEY, Colo. – Northern Colorado baseball returned home Tuesday afternoon, falling to Regis 5-4. The loss moves the Bears to 8-12 going into WAC play this weekend.
How it Happened
After both teams went down quietly in the first, Regis struck in the top of the second. Christian Bitar doubled to lead off the inning and came home on a two-out single by Logan Heflebowe to be up 1-0.
Northern Colorado responded in the bottom half of the inning by scoring a run without recording a hit. Jack Pauley walked to start the inning before advancing to third when Brett Minnick was hit by a pitch and Nick Tanner laid down a sacrifice bunt. Tyler Yamaguchi brought Pauley home with a sacrifice fly to center field, evening the game at one.
The Rangers regained the lead in the next inning. It began as Coby Zimmerman struck out swinging, but reached on a passed ball giving RU an extra out to play with.
Zimmerman would end up being the run that scored when Cole Maltese was unable to field a chopper to third cleanly from Ryan Tierney putting the Rangers up 2-1.
That lead would last until the bottom of the fourth. Minnick and Tanner had back-to-back singles to start the Bears' half inning, putting runners on the corners. Once again Yamaguchi used a productive out to even the score at two. After Alex Kiel singled to again put runners at the corner, Dean Lawson put the Bears up 3-2 with his double to center. A final UNC run was scored on a wild pitch during Corey Nakakura's at bat.
Regis chipped away at the Northern Colorado lead, scoring one in the sixth and another in the seventh to force extras.
UNC had plenty of opportunities to avoid extra innings, but left two or more stranded in both the seventh and eighth.
Kennedy Phillips pinch hit to begin the extra inning, drawing a walk. Antonio Salazar then ran for him. Salazar proved to be the game winning run off a well hit of the bat from Josh Newell.
Game Changer
Josh Newell battled against Connor Leedholm in the top of the 10th to help earn his team the win. The Rangers best hitter, who had been held hitless, got a piece of a 2-2 change up away and drove it towards center field, having the wind aid him for the game winning hit.
Notables
- It was about missed opportunities for UNC as they stranded 11 runs in the game.
- Alex Kiel and Dean Lawson each had two hit games for the Bears. Kiel went 2-for-4 with a run scored and walk. Meanwhile, Lawson was 2-for-5 with an RBI.
- The top half of Northern Colorado's offense struggled going hitless in the top four spots. The struggles ended both Cole Maltese's and Evan Johnson's hits streaks at 15 and 11 games, respectively.
Quotable
Head Coach Carl Iwasaki
Thoughts on the game
"Regis did a good job against us today and came in on a hot streak. Their offense has been hitting and continued today, while we did not hit when we needed."
Facing Sidearm Pitchers
"It is a challenge when we do not see throwers like that in softer throwing side armers. We are good enough hitters to make the adjustments though and need to do that better than we did today."
Team's evaluation going into conference play
"Taking a look at how many games we have been in through this first 20, I feel like we are right where we need to be. We still have room for more improvement, but we are in a good spot heading into conference play. We face a top third of the league team starting Friday and will have to defend and hit well to pick up the wins."
Junior Catcher Alex Kiel
On improved hitting recently
"Our hitting coach, Nate Rasmussen has helped me work on my leg kick and timing. Then today, I was seeing the ball well and put it all together."
Junior Infielder Dean Lawson
About breaking out of hitting skid
"When I was struggling, I was working on little changes, and then recently I have been working on my approach at the plate to continue to make progress."
What's Next?
The 2017 WAC season begins on Friday, when the Bears host Sacramento State. UNC and Sac St will play a three game series at home beginning at 2 pm.
How it Happened
After both teams went down quietly in the first, Regis struck in the top of the second. Christian Bitar doubled to lead off the inning and came home on a two-out single by Logan Heflebowe to be up 1-0.
Northern Colorado responded in the bottom half of the inning by scoring a run without recording a hit. Jack Pauley walked to start the inning before advancing to third when Brett Minnick was hit by a pitch and Nick Tanner laid down a sacrifice bunt. Tyler Yamaguchi brought Pauley home with a sacrifice fly to center field, evening the game at one.
The Rangers regained the lead in the next inning. It began as Coby Zimmerman struck out swinging, but reached on a passed ball giving RU an extra out to play with.
Zimmerman would end up being the run that scored when Cole Maltese was unable to field a chopper to third cleanly from Ryan Tierney putting the Rangers up 2-1.
That lead would last until the bottom of the fourth. Minnick and Tanner had back-to-back singles to start the Bears' half inning, putting runners on the corners. Once again Yamaguchi used a productive out to even the score at two. After Alex Kiel singled to again put runners at the corner, Dean Lawson put the Bears up 3-2 with his double to center. A final UNC run was scored on a wild pitch during Corey Nakakura's at bat.
Regis chipped away at the Northern Colorado lead, scoring one in the sixth and another in the seventh to force extras.
UNC had plenty of opportunities to avoid extra innings, but left two or more stranded in both the seventh and eighth.
Kennedy Phillips pinch hit to begin the extra inning, drawing a walk. Antonio Salazar then ran for him. Salazar proved to be the game winning run off a well hit of the bat from Josh Newell.
Game Changer
Josh Newell battled against Connor Leedholm in the top of the 10th to help earn his team the win. The Rangers best hitter, who had been held hitless, got a piece of a 2-2 change up away and drove it towards center field, having the wind aid him for the game winning hit.
Notables
- It was about missed opportunities for UNC as they stranded 11 runs in the game.
- Alex Kiel and Dean Lawson each had two hit games for the Bears. Kiel went 2-for-4 with a run scored and walk. Meanwhile, Lawson was 2-for-5 with an RBI.
- The top half of Northern Colorado's offense struggled going hitless in the top four spots. The struggles ended both Cole Maltese's and Evan Johnson's hits streaks at 15 and 11 games, respectively.
Quotable
Head Coach Carl Iwasaki
Thoughts on the game
"Regis did a good job against us today and came in on a hot streak. Their offense has been hitting and continued today, while we did not hit when we needed."
Facing Sidearm Pitchers
"It is a challenge when we do not see throwers like that in softer throwing side armers. We are good enough hitters to make the adjustments though and need to do that better than we did today."
Team's evaluation going into conference play
"Taking a look at how many games we have been in through this first 20, I feel like we are right where we need to be. We still have room for more improvement, but we are in a good spot heading into conference play. We face a top third of the league team starting Friday and will have to defend and hit well to pick up the wins."
Junior Catcher Alex Kiel
On improved hitting recently
"Our hitting coach, Nate Rasmussen has helped me work on my leg kick and timing. Then today, I was seeing the ball well and put it all together."
Junior Infielder Dean Lawson
About breaking out of hitting skid
"When I was struggling, I was working on little changes, and then recently I have been working on my approach at the plate to continue to make progress."
What's Next?
The 2017 WAC season begins on Friday, when the Bears host Sacramento State. UNC and Sac St will play a three game series at home beginning at 2 pm.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Nick DiPaola (2-0)
L: Leedholm, Connor (0-1)
S: Patrick Kenny (3)
Batting:
2B: Ryan Tierney 1 ; Josh Newell 1 ; Christian Bitar 1 ; Garrett Skillings 1
3B: Garrett Skillings 1
RBI: Ryan Tierney 1 ; Josh Newell 1 ; Christian Bitar 1 ; L. Heflebowe 1 ; Zach Dedin 1
SH: Max Fabricant 1 ; Zach Dedin 1
SF: Christian Bitar 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Ryan Tierney 1 ; Christian Bitar 1 ; Garrett Skillings 1 ; Coby Zimmerman 1 ; Antonio Salazar 1
Batting:
2B: Lawson, Dean 1
RBI: Yamaguchi, Tyler 2 ; Lawson, Dean 1
SH: Tanner, Nick 1
SF: Yamaguchi, Tyler 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Pauley, Jack 1 ; Minnick, Brett 1 ; Tanner, Nick 1 ; Kiel, Alex 1
SB: Maltese, Cole 1 ; Pauley, Jack 1 ; Tanner, Nick 1 ; Kiel, Alex 1 ; Lawson, Dean 1
HBP: Johnson, Evan 1 ; Minnick, Brett 2
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
0
H
2
RBI
1
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
AB
3
R
1
H
1
RBI
0
Players Mentioned
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RHP
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INF
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