University of Northern Colorado Athletics
Sunday, February 21
Wichita, Kansas
12 pm
University of Northern Colorado
1-2
4
at
3
Wichita State
2-1
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
R
H
E
Northern Colorado
1
0
0
0
0
1
0
0
2
4
7
2
Wichita State
0
1
0
1
0
0
0
1
0
3
9
1
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Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Nakakura, Corey (1-0)
L: Hayes, J (0-1)
S: Carroll, Cody (1)
Batting:
RBI: Yamaguchi, Tyler 1 ; Maltese, Cole 1 ; Minnick, Brett 1 ; Cashel, Rob 1
SH: Maltese, Cole 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Yamaguchi, Tyler 2 ; Minnick, Brett 1 ; Lawson, Dean 1
SB: Yamaguchi, Tyler 1 ; Maltese, Cole 1 ; Cashel, Rob 1 ; Lawson, Dean 1
CS: Minnick, Brett 1
HBP: Yamane, Ryan 1 ; Minnick, Brett 1
Batting:
2B: Troutwine 1 ; Reding 1
RBI: Kirk 1 ; Vickers 1
SH: Eaton 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Tinkham 1 ; Troutwine 1 ; Fehr 1
SB: Mucha 2 ; Troutwine 1
HBP: Mucha 1
PO: Rader 1
Game Leaders
AB
5
R
2
H
2
RBI
1
AB
2
R
1
H
2
RBI
1
rf/1b
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
AB
4
R
0
H
1
RBI
1
Players Mentioned
RHP
/ Baseball
INF
/ BaseballINF
/ BaseballINF/RHP
/ Baseball
UTL
/ Baseball
INF/RHP
/ Baseball
INF/RHP
/ Baseball
RHP
/ BaseballINF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
Photo by: Dean Popejoy
Ninth Inning Rally Leads @NCBearsBaseball to First Win
2/21/2016 5:36:00 PM | Baseball
UNC scores two in the ninth to earn its first win of the season.
WICHITA, Kan. – A trio of newcomers helped Northern Colorado baseball earn its first win of the season Sunday afternoon in thrilling comeback fashion 4-3 over Wichita State. The newcomers in Griffin Muller, Tyler Yamaguchi, and Cody Carroll came up big for the Bears in the win.
How it Happened
After Wichita State took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the eighth, Northern Colorado was down to its last out, when head coach Carl Iwasaki called on freshman Griffin Mueller to take his first collegiate at-bat. Mueller worked a four pitch walk to start the UNC rally.
After pitch running for Muller, Dean Lawson stole second to move into scoring position for Tyler Yamaguchi. Following a three hit game yesterday, Yamaguchi delivered the game-tying hit on a 2-2 pitch to right field allowing Lawson to score.
The Bears ended up with runners on first and second after a Ryan Yamane walk. Sophomore Cole Maltese came through on the payoff pitch of the at bat for Northern Colorado on a single through the left side of the infield to score Yamaguchi and put UNC up for good at 4-3.
In the bottom of the ninth inning Wichita State didn't down without a fight. They got a pair of runners on, before Cody Carroll struck out the final two batters of the game looking to earn his first career save.
Player of the Game
UNC: Northern Colorado had more than one player of the game, UNC's pitching staff turned in its best outing of the year to date, allowing only three runs on nine hits, while striking out 13 Shockers. At the plate, Brett Minnick was literally a bear to deal with on Sunday afternoon. He finished his day 2-for-2 with a run scored and RBI. Minnick also drew a walk and was hit by a pitch to have a perfect on-base percentage in the game.
WSU: Tanner Kirk continued his hot start on the year for the Shockers, going 2-for-2 in the game to raise his batting average to .714 for the year. He also drew a walk and drove in one of the team's three runs in the game.
Stats of the Game
- Starting pitcher Alex Werbach had the best start of any Northern Colorado pitcher this weekend, going four plus strong innings striking out five batters while only walking one. He allowed just two runs in the game on six hits
- Freshman Corey Nakakura earned his first career win on Sunday. He pitched two innings allowing just one run and two hits while striking out two Wichita State players.
- Northern Colorado pitchers struck out a season-high 11 batters and walked a season low four.
- Tyler Yamaguchi has settled into the lead-off spot very well for UNC. Over his first three games he has a .357 average and scored four runs. During the three games, he struck out just twice in 14 at-bats.
Coach Iwasaki's Take
"It was a great Sunday team win for us. The boys came out and played hard today and the scoreboard showed that in the end. Tyler Yamaguchi had a very good weekend for us. I think he proved that he belongs at this level throughout the weekend, including today to tie the game up for us. Our pitching staff really came up big for us starting with Alex Werbach going four strong innings. Then Justin Mulvaney and Cory Nakakora did well in those middle innings allow just the one run and giving our offense a chance to win it. Finally Cody Carroll did very well at the end facing the adversity, but striking out the final two batters to earn the win for the team. The energy and passion the guys played with all weekend was great to see to start the season and now we are looking forward to take on Kansas for two starting tomorrow."
What's Next?
The Bears will stay in the Sunflower State for next couple of days, traveling to Lawrence to take of the University of Kansas for a pair of games. The first game is set for tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. and will be aired on ESPN3.
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