The Dominican University baseball team opened the 2019 campaign in Danville, Kentucky, on Sunday topping the Olivet College Comets 4-2 before falling to the host Centre College Colonels 11-1. Making his first collegiate start, freshman
Hayden Young went eight innings, striking out 11, to pick up the game one victory for the Stars.
"Hayden threw about as well as you can in your first collegiate outing," said Steve Hardman, the Stars' head baseball coach, following the day. "We started out the season on a high note…it was a pretty hard fought ballgame. I challenged the team before the game, telling them the team that minimizes the freebies with the wind blowing out, wins the game. We only gave up one freebie with one error. Hayden didn't give up any free passes—no walks or hit by pitches—and struck out 11. At the plate we had some timely hits."
"The second game was kind of the reverse," continued Hardman. "We came out flat, giving six runs in the first. We played pretty well in the middle part of the game and fell apart late.
Trevor Fulmer, another freshman, came out of the bullpen and did an outstanding job minimizing the damage and kept us in the game through the middle innings."
In the win over Olivet,
Alec Coggins and
Frankie Sessa picked up sac fly RBIs in the first and third innings as Dominican opened a 2-0 lead. After a pair of solo home runs for the Comets tied the game after seven, freshman
Johnny Condron drove in the game-winning run on another sac fly after a Comet miscue opened the inning, allowing the Stars to put the go-ahead run on base. After a sac bunt and a
Ryan Simak single, his second of the game, Condron plated
Mike Buckley with a fly ball into centerfield. Simak later came around to score after he stole second, taking third on a throwing error before scoring on the Comets' third error of the inning.
Austin Michals came on to pick up the save in the ninth, tossing a 1-2-3 frame with a strikeout to pick up his first career save.
Dominican finished with four hits in the win. Two for Simak and one apiece for
Kevin Evans and
Brandon Diedrich. The Comets managed five hits off Young but the freshman limited the damage thanks to 11 punch outs.
In the loss to Centre, Dominican opened a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on an RBI single by Diedrich before the Colonels scored 11 unanswered runs, taking advantage of five Dominican errors.
The Stars will look to bounce back on Monday, taking on the Comets for the final game from Danville. First pitch is slated for 12:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
