RIVERSIDE, Calif. – The San Diego Christian College Hawks earned their first victory of the new season Friday defeating the La Sierra University Golden Eagles 15-2. The win was the first career victory as a collegiate head coach for SDCC’s Josh Milner.
La Sierra struck first in the bottom of the first after a leadoff triple came across following a groundout. SDCC starting pitcher, Gavin Perry would strike out the next two batters and then settle in. From there, the sophomore righty from the Rock Academy would toss 5 straight shutout innings, not surrendering another run until the bottom of the seventh.
The San Diego Christian offense then got to work as well. In the top of the second, Jake Luther led off with a double and Hudson Beamon earned a walk. The pair would touch home following a Trevor Baker double to take the lead for good.
In the fourth inning, the Hawks doubled their lead. Tre Pankratz tripled to right field, Beamon walked again and Jalani Brown laid down a sacrifice bunt that advanced Beamon and plated Pankratz. Baker would double yet again to bring Beamon home.
Jake Luther would drive home Alec Arnone in the top of the fifth for another unanswered run. After Hudson Beamon earned his third consecutive walk of the game in the sixth inning, he would immediately steal second, advance to third on a groundout, and come home on a wild pitch.
San Diego Christian continued to keep the scoring train rolling in the seventh when Luther parked his first homer of the season. Tre Pankratz would then double and immediately trade places with Hudson Beamon, who followed with a double to left field of his own. A Matt Beckworth single would plate Trevor Baker, who doubled two batters earlier for one Hawk run in the eighth inning.
SDCC was not done yet, however. During a wild ninth inning, the Hawks would add-on six more runs. Jake Luther would lead off the inning with a single and Tre Pankratz would follow him with a two-run homer. Beamon got on base yet again with a single, Baker walked, and the pair advanced on a wild pitch. Freshman, Isaac Snyder, entered the game and drove both runners in with a single to center field. Alex Hall would single as well and Symon Tabello would bring them home with a triple to right to complete the scoring.
In all, the Hawks amassed 17 hits while only allowing 6 to the Golden Eagles.
“After twenty years of coaching baseball, it is pretty special to get my first win as a head coach”, said SDCC’s Josh Milner. “There are no other guys I would rather share this experience with than this group of talented young men. I’m really looking forward to seeing where this team is headed.”
UP NEXT
The Hawks host the University of Saint Katherine on Friday, February 3 at Escondido High School. Game one of the doubleheader begins at 11 am.