Pride bats produce another big game in finale doubleheader at Benedictine

ATCHISON, Kan. - A day after their second 20-plus run performance of the season, the Clarke University baseball team used a 15-run third game of their series against Benedictine College to split another Heart of America Athletic Conference series with a 15-12 win and a 10-3 loss on Sunday.

A game after using 10 extra base hits en route to 25 runs, the Pride would use nine extra base hits to put up their 15 runs on Sunday as catcher Thomas Brannon would lead the charge once again after hitting three home runs and driving in eight in game two, he would go 5-for-5 with two doubles and a triple while driving in four runs for CU.

Not alone in the four-RBI club on Sunday as Alden Brown would finish with a triple and a home run as part of his four-RBI game as Brendan O'Connor and Ethan Jones would also homer for Clarke as O'Connor would drive a two-run shot out to left in the third and Jones would be part of a nine-run fifth inning with a three-run shot that helped the Pride go from down 3-7 to up 12-7 by inning's end.

Clarke would add three valuable insurance runs in the top of the seventh with Brannon's triple driving in O'Connor, Brannon scoring on a wild pitch, and Brown's solo shot pushing the lead to 15-9, which would play vital before the Ravens produced three of their own in the bottom of the seventh and would bring the tying run to the plate before a 4-6-3 double play would close out the win for CU.

It would be a quieter offensive performance in the finale for the Pride as they were held mostly in check by BC starter Nicholas Mozingo as he would produce a quality start allowing three earned runs on eight hits with three strikeouts over six innings.

Most of the Ravens' damage came in a seven-run fourth inning as they produced four run-scoring hits then add their 10th run of the game on their lone home run of the game on a Skyler Specht solo home run to make it 10-1 before two Clarke runs in the sixth would get CU as close as they would come in the finale.

Pride baseball return home to play five games at A.J. Speigel Park on the week starting with a single non-conference matchup against Viterbo University on Tuesday, Apr. 16 with a 4:00 p.m. CT scheduled first pitch against the V-Hawks.