CRETE, Neb. (uj.edu) — The University of Jamestown baseball team closed out its regular season Sunday with a pair of one-run games. The Jimmes took the opener 4-3 before the host Tigers rallied for a 1-0 win in game two.
Jamestown (31-16 overall, 19-9 Great Plains Athletic Conference) clinched the number two seed for the postseason conference tournament and will host one of the two four-team brackets. The eight-team playoff begins Thursday.
Game 1: Jimmies 4, Tigers 3
Nick Wrigg (JR/Helena, MT)’s sixth-inning single scored Grant Okawa (JR/Mississauga, ON) from second base, breaking a 3-3 tie as the Jimmies held on for a 4-3 win in game one.
Jamestown trailed 3-1 going into the top of the fifth, but RBI singles by Chase Hacker (JR/Millcreek, WA) and Tanner Roundy (SR/Henderson, NV) brought the Jimmies level.
Okawa, Hacker, and Jaden Yackley (SR/Lynnwood, Wash.) all had two hits for UJ. Lincoln Trujillo (JR/Cheyenne, WY) walked twice and stole two bases. Hacker, Wrigg, and Matt Meraz (JR/Aurora, CO) also had steals.
Dru Fitz (JR/Gresham, OR) (5-2) went all seven innings on the mound, allowing three runs (one earned) on eight hits. He walked two and struck five.
Game 2: Tigers 1, Jimmies 0
Jamestown and Doane traded zeroes for eight-and-a-half innings before the Tigers broke through with the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth.
With two out, Lukas White singled to center against Jimmie reliever Joe Spradlin (SR/Helena, MT) (2-1). Pinch-runner Justin Matthews moved to second following a single by Talon Little, chasing Spradlin. Tanner Gettman greeted Joe Harris (SO/Recluse, WY) with a single to left, scoring Matthews with the game-winner.
Tanner Roundy pitched six innings for UJ, giving up just one hit with one walk and three strikeouts. Spradlin went 2 2/3 innings and allowed three hits, walked one, and struck out one.
Jamestown had just three hits in the game–one each by Jaden Yackley, Drake Pilat (SR/Winnipeg, MB, Canada), and Zach Zurbrugg (SR/Bremerton, WA).
