Pitchers shine, Bennett comes through in extras as Pride win series over Culver-Stockton

MARION, Iowa - Needing to move their finale day against Culver-Stockton College to Prospect Meadows Sports Complex in Marion, Iowa, the Clarke University baseball team was able to split the two games highlighted by a ninth inning walk off home run to win two of the three games played in the series.

After coming in to pitch the eighth and ninth innings in relief of Johnny Blake, Greg Bennett led off the ninth inning in Blake's original spot in the lineup and took a 1-2 pitch deep to right center to break a 2-2 tie and send the Pride home winners of the day's second game.

The game was sent into extras as the Wildcats on a one-out single from Caden Power after a leadoff double and one-out single made it first and third for Power's ground ball in the hole at short was knocked down by Bubba Thompson but the CU shortstop couldn't make a play anywhere to get any outs.

Blake was able to lock in and get out of the inning at the 2-2 score to finish his pitching line at 7.0 innings, surrendering four hits and those two runs while striking out eight CSC batters for the no decision. The righty from Dubuque went 13-up, 13-down to take a perfect game into the fifth inning before Dax Flowerree hit a home run to left field to break up the second no-hit bid that went into the fifth inning for the Pride in the series.

Clarke got their first two runs of the game on an Kainoa Torres single, scoring Brendan O'Connor and Bennett, who was serving as a courtesy runner at the time, to make it a 2-0 game in the second inning.

All six hits from CU in the second game came from the six and seven spots in the lineup as Blake went 2-for-3 before being subbed out for Bennett, who went deep in the ninth, and Torres went 3-for-3 from that seven-hole as the junior from Honolulu, Hawaii got the start in left field for the Pride.

Hits were tough to come by for either side in the day's opener as each team finished with three hits but another big swing pushed the Wildcats over the top as Keli'i Price sent one over the wall in the top of the sixth for a two-run shot to make it the eventual winning score of 2-0.

Pride starting pitcher Tyson Tucker had a strong start otherwise with a six-inning, three-hit performance while striking out 10 batters as Bennett also threw a shutout relief inning in the opener while striking out a batter.