After rain cancelled our early-February trip to UC Davis, we finally got our first baseball of the season in at the annual Carnival Classic, hosted by UC Santa Barbara. Though we dropped our first game to the tourney hosts, 7-1, the game felt a bit closer than the score indicated. Hawaiian freshman masher Brandan Sakka got his season off to a good start with two hits and a walk, and starting junior P Matt Tonokawa pitched well aside from a tough 4-run 6th inning, striking out 7 and keeping us in the game. However, we mustered only three hits and were unable to come away wit the season-opening W.
However, fortunes were far more in our favor in game two. Despite once again mustering just three hits, we were able to squeak out the 3-2 win over the University of Nevada, Reno behind a strong complete-game pitching performance from sophomore Ben Albert (7 IP, 5H, 2 ER) and some alert base running, as two of our runs were scored on passed balls, with our third coming courtesy of an error by Reno. Sophomore stud Enrique Licon was flawless at SS and usual-3B sophomore Dru Chavez turned in an impressively smooth and agile performance at second base, helping keep Reno's base runners at bay.
On Sunday, we traveled to a new location, yet had a similar result at the plate, as once again we managed just three hits against UC San Diego. USC starter Austin Yamada kept the score close, surrendering just 3 earned runs and striking out 8 in five innings of work. However, for as sharp as SS Enrique Licon was in the field, he struggled somewhat in his first relief appearance of the year, as UCSD found their bats and scored 5 runs in the 6th inning, eventually winning 9-3. Fiesty outfield sophomore Drew Fox drove in two runs and we avoided being no-hit thanks to a 7th-inning pinch-hit single from junior Zach Findling. Kudos to the UCSD starter for a very strong performance.
In the Monday matinee (made possible via the extended weekend), we found a little magic against Cal Berkeley. Led by a strong performance from of-age junior-turned-sophormore Zach Mandrik (S/O to credits not transferring), we were able to pull out a thrilling 8-7 win to split our games for the weekend. Our bats came alive as well, as senior leader and current Naked employee Pete Hess went 3-4 and on-air-TV-personality-even-when-he's-off-the-air senior Evan Budrovich delivered two hits, setting the stage for Enrique, who delivered a walk-off hit to send the team home happy.
Other weekend notes: --New C Harrison Boarnet was beaned in the face during the Reno game on a 3-2 fastball, and the swelling that ensued over the next few hours gave off the impression that the baseball had, in fact, remained lodged in his cheek.
--The annual trip to Zodo's bowling was once again a rousing success. With four spots available in a nearby hotel for the winners (and a 30+ minute drive to the other hotel for the losers), senior SS Andrew Fisher put on a performance for the ages: "Fish" bowled 5 straight strikes to close the game and earn a spot in the nearby hotel, despite having been over 50 points out of contention entering the 7th frame. Freshman Dan "Quiet Dynamite" Brink also earned a spot in the nearby hotel, as did Director of Team Swag and easily-excitable Dodger fan Johnny Lauro. Rounding out the group was coach Andrew Stiny, who bowled one of his typical "100-something" games en route to a shorter drive from Zodo's.
--The team traveled to the same In N Out as last year following Saturday's games. Unfortunately, the yellow Lamborghini that was parked in the lot a year ago was not still there…however, Sakka's skills in devouring a quadruple-triple in less than 60 seconds remain entirely intact.
--Following Monday's win, there was strong debate in the team group-chat over whether to eat at Buffalo Wild Wings or Chick-Fil-A. Hero-of-the-day Enrique made a strong push for BDubs before Evan Budrovich undermined the plan at the last minute, starting a write-in-vote ballot campaign for Chick-Fil-A in one of his typical acts of insubordination and disrespect. Easily-persuaded freshman Luke Spiegel quickly sided with Budrovich, whose cunning wordplay was music to Spiegel's Chief-Keef-vocabulary-trained ears. However, Enrique was not one to surrender to the will of the coup, and an intense back-and-forth unfolded on the team GroupMe. The banter finally ceased after Albert and Findling made semi-kind but PG-13-rated requests for the discussion to be held on a different, less public platform.
However, fortunes were far more in our favor in game two. Despite once again mustering just three hits, we were able to squeak out the 3-2 win over the University of Nevada, Reno behind a strong complete-game pitching performance from sophomore Ben Albert (7 IP, 5H, 2 ER) and some alert base running, as two of our runs were scored on passed balls, with our third coming courtesy of an error by Reno. Sophomore stud Enrique Licon was flawless at SS and usual-3B sophomore Dru Chavez turned in an impressively smooth and agile performance at second base, helping keep Reno's base runners at bay.
On Sunday, we traveled to a new location, yet had a similar result at the plate, as once again we managed just three hits against UC San Diego. USC starter Austin Yamada kept the score close, surrendering just 3 earned runs and striking out 8 in five innings of work. However, for as sharp as SS Enrique Licon was in the field, he struggled somewhat in his first relief appearance of the year, as UCSD found their bats and scored 5 runs in the 6th inning, eventually winning 9-3. Fiesty outfield sophomore Drew Fox drove in two runs and we avoided being no-hit thanks to a 7th-inning pinch-hit single from junior Zach Findling. Kudos to the UCSD starter for a very strong performance.
In the Monday matinee (made possible via the extended weekend), we found a little magic against Cal Berkeley. Led by a strong performance from of-age junior-turned-sophormore Zach Mandrik (S/O to credits not transferring), we were able to pull out a thrilling 8-7 win to split our games for the weekend. Our bats came alive as well, as senior leader and current Naked employee Pete Hess went 3-4 and on-air-TV-personality-even-when-he's-off-the-air senior Evan Budrovich delivered two hits, setting the stage for Enrique, who delivered a walk-off hit to send the team home happy.
Other weekend notes: --New C Harrison Boarnet was beaned in the face during the Reno game on a 3-2 fastball, and the swelling that ensued over the next few hours gave off the impression that the baseball had, in fact, remained lodged in his cheek.
--The annual trip to Zodo's bowling was once again a rousing success. With four spots available in a nearby hotel for the winners (and a 30+ minute drive to the other hotel for the losers), senior SS Andrew Fisher put on a performance for the ages: "Fish" bowled 5 straight strikes to close the game and earn a spot in the nearby hotel, despite having been over 50 points out of contention entering the 7th frame. Freshman Dan "Quiet Dynamite" Brink also earned a spot in the nearby hotel, as did Director of Team Swag and easily-excitable Dodger fan Johnny Lauro. Rounding out the group was coach Andrew Stiny, who bowled one of his typical "100-something" games en route to a shorter drive from Zodo's.
--The team traveled to the same In N Out as last year following Saturday's games. Unfortunately, the yellow Lamborghini that was parked in the lot a year ago was not still there…however, Sakka's skills in devouring a quadruple-triple in less than 60 seconds remain entirely intact.
--Following Monday's win, there was strong debate in the team group-chat over whether to eat at Buffalo Wild Wings or Chick-Fil-A. Hero-of-the-day Enrique made a strong push for BDubs before Evan Budrovich undermined the plan at the last minute, starting a write-in-vote ballot campaign for Chick-Fil-A in one of his typical acts of insubordination and disrespect. Easily-persuaded freshman Luke Spiegel quickly sided with Budrovich, whose cunning wordplay was music to Spiegel's Chief-Keef-vocabulary-trained ears. However, Enrique was not one to surrender to the will of the coup, and an intense back-and-forth unfolded on the team GroupMe. The banter finally ceased after Albert and Findling made semi-kind but PG-13-rated requests for the discussion to be held on a different, less public platform.
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