Recap: Late Inning Rally Leads @NCBearsBaseball Over Regis

Tuesday, April 3

Greeley, Colo.

2 p.m.

University of Northern Colorado

18-12

Regis University

20-14

Regis

Northern Colorado

4/3/2018 7:47:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

UNC used a three-run seventh to defeat Regis 8-7 Tuesday

By: By Ryan Pfeifer, UNCBears.com

GREELEY, Colo. – Northern Colorado baseball earned a comeback 8-7 win over Regis Tuesday afternoon at Jackson Field behind a strong day at the plate from the middle and bottom half of the lineup. The win improves UNC to 18-12 on the season and is the second straight win for the team.

How It Happened
Regis jumped out to the lead first by taking advantage of a UNC fielding error. The Rangers scored four unearned runs against Baxter Halligan in the top of the second and put pressure on the Northern Colorado offense.

The Bears responded right way in the bottom half of the inning with Evan Johnson and Tyler Yamaguchi each hitting a single to lead off the inning. Johnson scored on a wild pitch with Jack Garcia at the plate. Garcia made it a 4-2 ball game right after that with a single scoring Yamaguchi. Garcia and Matt Zoba scored later on in the inning to even the game at four.

The Rangers quickly reclaimed the lead with a run in the top of the third, but Johnson and Yamaguchi led off the bottom half the inning again reaching base. A single for Johnson and walk for Yamaguchi. Garcia, this time drove home Johnson to tie the game at five.

RU continued its scoring trend with another run in the fourth, which was the difference in the game until the bottom of the seventh. Back-to-back walks by Matt Burkart and Jack Pauley starting Northern Colorado's three-run rally. A sacrifice bunt and productive out by Johnson and Yamaguchi tied the game at six before UNC went on a two-out run. Brett Minnick doubled to score Pauley and then Garcia drove home his third run of the game with a single to left making it 8-6 Bears.

The run driven in by Garcia proved to be important as Regis scored one in the ninth, but that was it. Connor Leedholm shut the door on a Rangers' comeback to earn his seventh save of the season.

Game Changer
Jake Garcia started at catcher today to give regular starter Alex Kiel a break Tuesday, and he showed off why he is such a valuable asset for the team. Not only was he solid behind the plate, but went 3-for-4 in the batter's box with a team-leading three RBI and a run scored.

Stat to Know
UNC was a solid 12-for-22 in advancement opportunities on Tuesday, including an impressive 3-for-3 from Tyler Yamaguchi and 3-for-4 from Garcia.

Game Notes
- Connor Leedholm earned his seventh save of the season moving into a tie for second most saves in a season with former Bears Brennan Garr (2005) and Josh Durant (1999). The only Bear ahead of him now is Kevin Willman in 2013 with 10.
- Matt Burkart, Evan Johnson, Brett Minnick and Matt Zoba all had a two-hit game for the Bears, joining Garcia with his three.
- The Bears saw positive outings from three of their main pitchers coming back from injury in Keenan Lum, Troy Watson, and Corey Nakakura. The trio pitched three innings allowing no runs and three hits while striking out five.

What's Ahead?
Northern Colorado looks to get a return above .500 in WAC play this weekend when they head to Seattle for the three-game series. UNC and SU begin the series on Friday at 7 pm MT. All three games can be seen on the WAC Digital Network.

To stay up to date on all things UNC baseball, visit UNCBears.com and follow the team on Twitter at @NCBearsBaseball.