Sterling plays Friends close through three-game series

Sterling College baseball faced a difficult Friends University team, losing the three-game series on Friday and Saturday, March 28-29.

Game 1

Game one proved to be a high scoring contest, with Sterling leading for eight innings, but an 8-run inning in the top of the ninth gave the Falcons all they needed for the 24-19 win.

Sterling started strong with a two-run home run from Andrew Dutro in the bottom of the first inning to give the Warriors a 2-0 lead.

Friends answered back in the top of the second with a one-run home run from Tyler Godfrey and a single up the middle from Bernie Socarras brought in a run to tie the game up 2-2.

The Warriors came back with a big bottom of the second inning, starting with a double down the left line from Luis Morales to bring in Tyler Gates, Jace Phillips and Ezavian Campos for three runs. Emmanuel Huerta Cardenas returned the favor with a double to left center to bring Morales home and give Sterling the 6-2 lead.

The Falcons scored four runs of their own in the top of the fourth inning to knot the game up 6-6.

A big bottom of the fourth inning doubled the Warrior's score. Huerta Cardenas started things off for Sterling with a double to right field to bring in Gates. Dutro then hit a sacrifice fly to the left field allowing Morales to score. Austin Santiago singled up the middle to bring home Huerta Cardenas.

Nehemiah House followed suit with another single up the middle to bring in Jackson Parmenter in for the run. Campos closed out the inning with a single to advance Santiago home while Parmenter capitalized on a throwing error to score and give Sterling the 12-6 lead.

Friends quickly put two more scores on the board in the top of the fifth to close the gap, 12-8.

Parmenter singled to left field to bring home Morales in the bottom of the fifth.

Sterling continued to extend their lead in the bottom of the sixth inning with a single to the short stop from Dutro to bring home Gates and Parmenter singled to left field yet again to bring home Morales and give the Warriors a 16-8 lead.

A two-run home run from Miles Hartman and an RBI from Carlos Rodriguez in the top of the seventh closed the gap 16-11.

The Warriors put up another score in the bottom of the seventh with a sacrifice fly from Morales to advance Campos.

Friends came back with a five-run inning in the top of the eighth which included a three-run homer from Nijai Armbrister, making the score 17-16 in favor of the Warriors.

House answered with a two-homer in the bottom of the eighth to extend Sterling's lead to 19-16.

However, Friends took the lead in the top of the ninth inning with eight runs, including a three-run homer from both Socarras and Godfrey to give the Falcons their first lead of the game, 24-19.

Aaron Alvarado started on the mound for the Warriors. He pitched six innings, facing 34 batters, surrendering 11 hits which resulted in eight runs (seven earned). Alvarado struck out two batters while walking three.

Game 2

Game two was decided in extra innings, with Friends coming out on top, 10-9.

The Falcons struck first with a sacrifice fly from Rodriguez to bring home Socarras in for the run.

Sterling came back in the bottom of the first with Dutro capitalizing on a double to right field from Parmenter to tie the score at 1-1. The Warriors scored again with a run from Campos to give Sterling the 2-1 win.

Friends put up two runs in the top of the third and three runs in the top of the fourth inning to take back the lead and extend it, 7-2.

In the bottom of the fourth, Gates answered back with a sacrifice fly to left field to bring home House. Parmenter also singled through the left side in the bottom of the fifth to close the gap to 7-4.

Another score from Friends in the of the sixth inning was answered by Morales in the bottom of the sixth with a single up the middle to bring home Gates and keep the Warriors within striking distance.

In the top of the seventh inning, the Falcons scored another run to make the score 9-5.

Sterling came back with a three-run inning in the bottom of the eighth. Dutro got things started in the inning with single up the middle to bring home Morales and Garcia. Dutro then took advantage of a fielding error to score and bring Sterling within one run.

A single through the right side from Morales in the bottom of the ninth inning brought in the tying score from Campos to force extra inning.

However, the Falcons would come out victorious with a run in the top of the tenth which went unanswered from the Warriors.

Jace Phillips led Sterling from the mound, pitching four and two-thirds of an inning. He faced 28 batters, surrendering seven hits which resulted in seven runs while walking five batters.

Nate Heffline came in as relief for the Warriors closing out the remaining five and one-third innings. Heffline faced 27 batters, surrendering five hits which resulted in three runs (two earned) while walking five batters and striking out two.

Game 3

The Warriors seemed to run out of steam in the final game of the series, losing to 6-0 to the Falcons.

Friends put up one run in the first, three in the top of the third and one more run in both the fourth and fifth inning.

Morales and House were the lone Warriors with hits on the day.

Aaron Elsasser led Sterling from the mound, pitching six of the seven innings. He faced 31 batters, surrendering 12 hits which resulted in six runs (five earned) while striking out two batters and walking two.

Tyreek Sherman came in as relief in the final inning of play, he struck out two of the three batters he faced and gave up no hits.

The Warrior's next game will be against Kansas Wesleyan in Salina, Kan. on Tuesday, April 1.

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.