Sterling gets a win over Tabor

Sterling College baseball faced off against a tough Tabor College team in a three-game series on Friday and Saturday, March 14-15. The Warriors came out of the series with a win

Game 1

Despite a strong start from the Warriors in game one, the Bluejays were able to amount the comeback win, 19-7 by the end of the seventh inning.

Sterling came out with three big runs in the bottom of the first innings, Jackson Parmenter got things started off for the Warriors with a double to left center to bring home Emmanuel Huerta Cardenas. Austin Santiago returned the favor with a single to right center to send Andrew Dutro and Parmenter across home plate to give Sterling the 3-0 lead.

Tabor answered back with three runs of their own in the top of the third to tie the score up and added on four more in the top of the fourth to take a 7-4 lead.

The Warriors did not go away quietly. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Dutro singled to center field to bring home Luis Morales while Parmenter singled up the middle to bring home Cardenas once again.

In the bottom of the sixth, Morales would score again on a Bluejay error to bring the Warriors within one headed into the seventh inning.

However, the wheels fell off for the Warriors in the top of the seventh as Tabor scored 12 runs to put the game well out of reach with a 19-6 lead. The big scores came from Tabor's Cody Moore and Jared Mack who both recorded home runs that resulted in three RBIs.

Ezavian Campos tried to get it going for Sterling in the bottom of the seventh with a double down the right field line to bring Jason Smith home, but the Warriors ran out of steam the game ended Tabor winning 19-7.

Game 2

Sterling played a much closer in the second game, the first of a doubleheader on Saturday, losing 5-2 to the Bluejays.

Tabor came out with some residual heat from the game before, quickly scoring a run in the top of the first inning and adding to that score in the top of the fifth with three more runs to take a 4-0 lead.

The Warriors started to find some momentum of their own in the bottom of the fifth with a single from Cardenas to bring home James Easter.

However, the Bluejays answered back quickly with a single up the middle to extend the lead out to 5-1.

Sterling tried to pick things back up in the bottom of the seventh with a single to right field from Santiago to bring Cardenas across home plate, but the Warriors were unable to capitalize on position and ultimately loss, 5-2.

Jace Phillips started the game from the mound for the Warriors, pitching four and one third innings, giving up six hits which resulted in four runs while walking five batters and striking out two. Cooper Lovelace finished out the innings, he gave up one hit which resulted in one run, walked six batters while striking out five.

Game 3

Sterling carried over their late scoring spurt into the final game of the series where they were able to get the 6-4 win over Tabor.

Although the Bluejays scored first with a two-run home run in the top of the first inning, the Warriors answered back with two runs of their own in the bottom of the first. The first run came off an error from the pitcher, which led to Morales making it home while the second run came from Cardenas who snuck in for the score during a double play.

The Warriors kept things rolling in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings with Jason Smith scoring on a wild pitch in the bottom of the fourth, Parmenter singling through the left side to bring home Dutro in the bottom of the fifth, and both Smith and Easter scoring on singles in the bottom of the sixth to extend Sterling's lead to 6-2.

Tabor fought back in the top of the seventh, punching two more runs home. However, Aaron Elsasser kept his cool on the mound and struck out Marcelo Aguirre with runners on the corners.

Elsasser painted the corners from the mound for the Warriors. Throughout the entire seven-inning game, he faced 30 batters throwing 76 strikes on 128 pitches. He surrendered seven hits which resulted in four runs while striking out six batters and only walking two.

Be sure to check for news and updates on Sterling Warrior Athletics on Facebook (/SCWarriors), Twitter (@SterlingCSports), and Instagram (sterlingcsports), as well as the hashtag #SwordsUp. Watch the Warriors' live home events on the Sterling College Sports Network.