Pride Split Season Series with Grand View
DES MOINES, Iowa – The Clarke University baseball team closed out its four-game set against the Vikings of Grand View in 1-1 fashion on Sunday at Lou Yacinich Stadium.
Clarke (25-12 overall, 14-6 Heart) experienced some late-game heroics from Daniel Phyle in the first game to win it 3-2 before falling 7-6 in Game 2.
The opener saw the Pride take a 1-0 lead at the top of the second inning when Bryce Simon homered to left center, bringing his season total to four. Clarke found itself in a prime position to add a run at the top of the following inning when Brendan O'Conner singled and managed to advance to third when Daniel Phyle reached first on an error by the Vikings' third basemen.
With two on and no outs, Victor Lara flied out to left field, scoring O'Connor for the Pride's second run of the day. Grand View managed to escape the inning without allowing Clarke to bring home Phyle, who was stranded on third base.
Grand View knotted things up at the bottom of the third inning off a home run to left field but would go on to struggle the remainder of the contest to the tune of only three hits.
Heading into the seventh inning tied 2-2, Andrew Swartz got things going for the Pride after walking to start the inning. With O'Connor up to bat, Swartz stole second to get into scoring position. O'Conner reached first via a walk, which set up a double-steal situation for the Pride, putting both players in scoring position at second and third base.
Phyle grounded out to short at the next at-bat, which allowed both runners to advance and for Swartz to score from third to give the Pride the 3-2 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh.
Isaac Rhode came in to close out the game and did so in epic fashion, striking out three of the four batters he'd face for his fifth save of the season. Jake Florito started the game on the mound and threw five innings, striking out four. Carsie Walker pitched the sixth inning and picked up the win after holding the Vikings scoreless.
In the nightcap, the Pride erased an early 5-0 deficit before Grand View scored one in the sixth to knot it up and walked off with a sac fly to right field at the bottom of the seventh.
Six Pride batters recorded at least one hit in the contest. Phyle finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and one run scored. Catcher Paul Von Zboray went 2-for-3 with a run scored, an RBI and one walk.
Grand View plated all five of its runs at the bottom of the second for the 5-0 advantage.
Phyle got the Pride started with an RBI single up the middle at the top of the third. Bubba Thompson ripped off a two RBI home run the following inning to trim the deficit to two.
At the top of the sixth, Zboray homered to left field, followed by back-to-back errors that resulted in runs for the Pride to give Clarke the 6-5 advantage.
The Vikings responded their final two runs to complete the walk-off victory.
Clarke utilized four pitchers in the second game with Nolan Lamere dropping to 0-1 on the season after giving up the game's final run. Johnny Blake started the game and pitched two innings, striking out three. Walker pitched the third frame, retiring all three of his batters via strikeouts. Rohde threw the following three innings, striking out six and allowing two runs against three hits.
Up next, the Pride will welcome in Benedictine on Thursday for the first of two doubleheaders this week against the Ravens. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Spiegel Park.