By KEN IRVING
Student Reporter
The Rangers won season opener series 2-1 against Metropolitan State last weekend.
If you weren’t excited about this year’s Ranger baseball season, then maybe Trevor Stiles’ and Paul Sachen’s walk off singles in the season openers will change your mind.
The Rangers had six home runs in the first of the three-game series Friday. Junior Carson Wright homered three times, Juniors Paul Sachen, Trevor Saire and Hagen Barcello each homered once. Barcello and Wright each had four hits.
With the bases loaded in the ninth inning, junior pitcher Jacob Shaw got out of the bases-loaded jam and secured the win.
Game 1 against Metropolitan State was action packed from the beginning as Metropolitan State hit a leadoff double. This led to a two-run homer to start the game off.
The lead wouldn’t last long as both Wright and Barcello hit back-to-back homeruns to tie the game at 2-2.
Metropolitan State scored 2 runs after a couple of Ranger errors but the Rangers responded with a homerun by Wright.
In the fourth inning, junior Dylan Bradford hit a sacrifice fly, and the Rangers drove in a run to tie the game.
The seventh inning rally started with Sachen’s two-run homer. The Rangers batter fed off this energy as Saire smashed a ball into the parking lot, cutting the deficit to 1 run.
The Rangers were down by one to start the ninth, but they didn’t look nervous at all. Wright certainly wasn’t as he hit his third homerun to tie it at 8 a piece.
With a 3-2 count and bases loaded, Stiles delivered the game winning RBI single.
The Rangers took Game 1 of 3 by a score of 9-8
The Rangers split Saturday’s doubleheader.
They took Game 2, 6-5, and lost Game 3, 9-3, on Saturday.
Pitcher Matthew Potts shut out Metropolitan State through four innings Saturday until the Roadrunners hit a single home run off for the first score of the game. Metropolitan scored three more runs to go 4-0 in the sixth.
Then the Rangers got their first points of the day off a Paul Sachen RBI single in the sixth.
In the eighth inning, the Rangers added on to their single point off a Metropolitan error and a sacrifice bunt by Bradford.
Once again, the Rangers faced a ninth inning deficit but didn’t back down and scored on a balk. Junior Dylan Bradford tied the game on an RBI single. Sachen knocked in a walk off single and completed the comeback.
The Rangers failed to complete the series sweep as they lost Game 3, 9-3.
Tuesday win 9-8
A five-run eighth inning [ushed the Rangers to a comeback win over the Newman Jets, 9-8, on Tuesday. It was the third come-from-behind win this season.
