AUBURNDALE, Fla. -- The NPU baseball team's spring road trip came to a conclusion after Saturday morning's matchup with Keystone College, ultimately winding at a score of 5-6 in favor of the Giants despite an admirable effort from SP Bobby Bartlett and a late push from the Vikings' offense.
Bartlett cruised through the game's first six frames, allowing just one earned run on a solo home run by Keystone's Greg Verano in the 3rd inning. The Giants managed to scrape another run across the plate in the 6th, though that one would go down as unearned.
Defensive mishaps benefitted the Vikings as well, as all three of the team's runs to that point in the game came by way of errors. Nate Sommerfeld got North Park on the board in the 4th without anyone needing to lift the bat off their shoulder, wearing a HBP, advancing two bases on a throwing error, and then stealing home on a passed ball. Sommerfeld would again reach first base in the 6th inning after a dropped third strike, moving up to second on a single from Zach Lingk. Both Sommerfeld and Lingk proceeded to score on two more passed balls to give NPU a 3-2 lead heading into the top of the 7th.
A quick 7th saw both sides go 1-2-3, but the 8th inning brought trouble for Bartlett who had been rock solid to that point. Keystone got two runners on base via a single and HBP to setup their slugger Anthony Raimo, and Raimo came through with a 3-run shot to take back the lead for the Giants at a score of 3-5. Griffin Self came in for relief of Bartlett, taking over with no outs and clear basepaths. Self recorded two outs but ultimately allowed one earned run before ending the inning on a pickoff to first base.
Self went on to hold the Giants scoreless in the top of the 9th after NPU went down 1-2-3 on Ks in the 8th inning. The Vikings' bats bounced back in their last chance, however, sparked by a single from pinch hitter Carson Blatchford. A two-out rally ensued, with Garrett Bragg scoring Blatchford on a single through the left side before a double from Rylan Kawakami brought Bragg home as well to make it a 5-6 ballgame. The Giants made a call to the pen to try and close out the contest before it could go to extras, and the move panned out as reliever Logan Lixie shut the door to earn himself a save and earn Keystone the victory.
Bartlett's final line read 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 BB, 6 Ks, and 4 ER—a strong performance from the two-way senior underscored only by the Giants' clutch play in the 8th inning. Offensively, Rylan Kawakami was the only Viking to record multiple hits with a 2-5 effort, tallying an RBI double for NPU's lone XBH of the day.
What's Next?
With the spring trip over, the Vikings head back to campus for a home matchup with the University of Chicago on Tuesday, March 21st. First pitch is slotted for 3:00 P.M. against the Maroons, with the weather favorably forecasted in the high-40s.
