Bears split doubleheader with Hornets, look to even series on Sunday

Saturday, April 24

Greeley, CO

Noon MT

University of Northern Colorado

8-23, 0

Sacramento State

23-11, 0

Sacramento State

Northern Colorado

4/24/2021 7:13:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

By: By Thomas Hoffman, UNCBears.com

GREELEY, Colo. – Shaydon Kubo's hot streak continues as his grand slam helped Northern Colorado split with Sacramento State in Saturday's doubleheader (8-6, 1-10).

GAME 1

The Hornets were looking for the same quick start it mustered up a day ago and managed to push across two runs to take the early lead.

It wouldn't last long, though.

With Garrett Fisher and Sam Leach already aboard, Josh Glenn absolutely hammered the seventh pitch of his at-bat over the fence, leapfrogging Sacramento State, 3-2.

BOT 1 | KISS IT GOODBYE!!! @joshglenn28 gives us the lead!

UNC - 3
SAC - 2#BearsStrong #WACbsb pic.twitter.com/6jSLIP12DN
— UNC Baseball (@UNC_BearsBSB) April 24, 2021

An inning later, the hot bat of Shaydon Kubo stepped to the plate with the bases loaded and nobody out.

A week removed from his first career home run, Kubo found the same magic once more, lifting a towering grand slam over the left-field fence.

BOT 5 | 🚨 @shaykubo GRAND SLAM ALERT!! 🚨

UNC - 7
SAC - 2#BearsStrong #WACbsb pic.twitter.com/GB5lrF3zUq
— UNC Baseball (@UNC_BearsBSB) April 24, 2021

Ben McKay wasn't done tacking on UNC runs. A marathon of an 11-pitch at-bat resulted in an RBI single and stretched the Bear lead to six.

BOT 2 | After 11 pitches, Ben McKay drops one into center to score Leach and we lead by SIX!

UNC - 8
SAC - 2#BearsStrong #WACbsb pic.twitter.com/CvMpmoLjAO
— UNC Baseball (@UNC_BearsBSB) April 24, 2021

All of the sudden, UNC owned an 8-2 advantage.

With plenty of run support, Dylan Bowers began to cruise. Northern Colorado's big righty finished with five full innings, gave up three earned runs and struck out 10.

The Hornets tried to mount a comeback in the sixth, pushing across four runs on a trio of hits before Logan Chase shut down the threat.

In the seventh, Chase gave up one hit but ended the inning, and the game, with two consecutive pop-ups to give the Bears its first win of the weekend, 8-6.

GAME 2

Following a perfect first inning, Jacob Salim nearly exited the second unscathed but two hits and an error gave Sacramento State two early runs.

Slowly but surely the visitors began to increase its lead.

Grabbing three in the third inning and three more in the fifth, Sacramento State secured a commanding advantage.

It might've been more were it not for Matt Burkart's rifle from right field in the top of the fourth.

Top 4 | DO NOT RUN ON @matt__burkart !!

UNC - 0 
SAC - 5#BearsStrong #WACbsb pic.twitter.com/Gt3Vt43hJ6
— UNC Baseball (@UNC_BearsBSB) April 24, 2021

The Hornets continued to plug away until the bitter end. Adding insurance in the eighth and ninth innings, Sacramento State owned a 10-run lead.

Northern Colorado wouldn't go down without a fight, however. Walks from Quinn Ayers and Josh Glenn set up an RBI-double from Cade Moeller to get the Bears on the board.

That would be a close as UNC would get, though, as Sacramento State closed out the third game of the series, 10-1.

Game Notes

Josh Glenn launched his third home run of the season.
Shaydon Kubo extended his hit streak to six games, launching his first career grand slam (his second home run).
Dylan Bowers recorded double-digits strikeouts for the third time this season.
Logan Chase recorded his second save of the season.
Daylon Matthews pitched three solid innings, giving up just one run.

What's Ahead
Northern Colorado and Sacramento State will match up one more time on Sunday for the final game of the series. First pitch is set for noon MT.

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