KCAC

[Baseball] Baseball Falcons salvage series finale with 14-2 romp at York

York, Neb. – The Friends University Falcons captured the finale of a three-game series in dominating fashion, winning 14-2 today (Apr. 16) at the York University Panthers in York, Neb.The win moves the Falcons within a game of York for the all-important sixth spot in the KCAC with a 14-12 conference record. The top six teams in the league advance to the KCAC Postseason Tournament in Great Bend, Kan. on May 3-6.Zeke Henson (SO/Raymore, Mo. ) and Pablo Oden (SR/Hollywood, Fla.) each drove in three runs to spark the offensive output, as the Falcons scored three in the fourth and four more in the fifth to break open what was once a 1-1 game.The Falcons then added two in the seventh before emphatically putting things away with a four-run ninth frame.Putting traffic on the bases paid off for the Falcons, as three runs came home on wild pitches, four on groundouts, two runs each on infield singles and sacrifice flies and one via hit by pitch.Buster Hardman (JR/American Fork, Utah) also drove in a pair of runs for the Falcons, with Devon Lujan (SO/Olathe, Kan.) going 3-of-4 with three runs scored and Henson and Caleb Coats (SO/Katy, Texas) each scoring three times.The Falcons (20-20, 14-12 KCAC) were buoyed by a solid pitching effort from Matthew Benton (SO/Hobart, Ind.), who went seven innings and gave up just two runs while striking out six and walking three.Jackson Powell (FR/Lufkin, Texas) then pitched two shutout innings with four strikeouts to finish off the big victory.Isaac Stark went 2-of-3 at the plate for the Panthers (16-25-1, 15-11 KCAC).Next up, the Falcons will host Southwestern College Tuesday afternoon (Apr. 18) at 3 pm at West Side Athletic Field.