Fontbonne pitching totals 27 strikeouts in Spalding sweep
St. Louis, Mo. - With a come-from-behind victory for Fontbonne baseball in game one against Spalding University and a tight 3-2 victory in game two, the Griffins remain undefeated in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play with a 9-0 record. Fontbonne improves their overall record to 14-10.
Last week the Golden Eagles recorded a NCAA Division III record as they threw 26 strikeouts in a single game, which happened to be 15 innings. Tonight three Griffins combined for 27 strikeouts in the 15-inning doubleheader sweep of the Eagles.
Game one: Tanner Carter got the start for Fontbonne and recorded 10 strikeouts in seven innings. After Spalding crossed the plate once in the first, the Griffins answered by scoring one of their own in the bottom half of the inning. Spalding put another run on the scoreboard after a controversial triple to right field was hit by the Golden Eagles. Fontbonne fans and players thought the ball was foul. The second Spalding run scored on the play immediately following. Two more Golden Eagle runs in the fifth gave the visiting team a 4-1 lead.
Fontbonne was able to score one run in the bottom of the sixth and trailed going into their final chances in the seventh to stay undefeated in conference. A walk, wild pitch, sacrifice bunt and two singles gave Fontbonne two runs to send the game into eight innings. One of the singles could have been trouble for Spalding but their second basemen knocked the ball down on a diving stop to keep the ball in the infield. Patrick Shuff recorded the game-winning sacrifice fly to right field. Vince Santarsiero relieved Carter in the eighth. Santarsiero struck out two of the three batters he faced, recording his fourth win of the year. Devon Tolan went three-for-four in the first Spalding matchup of the year.
Game two: A sleu of errors in game two started as early as the first inning, which enabled Spalding to score a run early, however the Griffins turned around and scored three runs in the second, their only runs of the game. Another error allowed Spalding to score their final run in the top of the fourth.
Cale Laughlin struck out 13 batters in six innings of work, striking out two Golden Eagles in each of their three at-bats against the left-hander. Santarsiero came back in and recorded his second save of the year. He struck out two batters once more, this time facing four.
The Griffins will return to action Tuesday when they take on Washington University for the fourth time this season. The Bears host the Griffins with a 3 p.m. start time.