JAMESTOWN, N.D. (JimmieAthletics.com) – The University of Jamestown baseball team scored five runs in the sixth inning Thursday, opening up a seven-run cushion in an 8-0 win over Morningside (Iowa) College in the Jamestown Bracket of the GPAC Baseball Postseason Tournament.
UJ, now 32-16 on the year, will face Northwestern (Iowa) at 12 p.m. Friday, with the winner advancing to the bracket championship game on Saturday.
Jimmies 8, Mustangs 0
Kaleb Binstock (SR/Grand Forks, ND) hit a two-run pinch-hit home run while Jared Bentley (JR/Washougal, WA) and Chase Hacker(JR/Millcreek, WA) also drove in runs as part of a five-run sixth inning for an 8-0 Jimmie victory.
Jaden Yackley (SR/Lynnwood, Wash.) singled in a pair of runs in the bottom of the second as Jamestown took an early 2-0 lead. The score stayed 2-0 until the sixth, when the Jimmies broke the game open with five runs on four hits, a pair of walks and a Morningside error.
Tanner Roundy (SR/Henderson, NV) reached on an error to start the inning, then moved to second on a sacrfice bunt. Binstock homered deep to right field on a 1-1 pitch, giving UJ a 4-0 lead. With two out, Grant Okawa (JR/Mississauga, ON) singled and reached second base on a wild pitch. Zach Zurbrugg (SR/Bremerton, WA) drew a walk, then Bentley doubled into the ivy on the right field fence to score Okawa. Yackley was intentionally walked to load the bases, and Hacker singled to right, driving in courtesy runner Nick Wrigg (JR/Helena, MT) and Bentley.
Kensaku Akiya (JR/Kawasaki, Japan) (7-0) tossed six shutout innings, allowing just four singles. He walked three and struck out seven. Austin Pesicka (JR/West Linn, OR) pitched three hitless innings for his first save, walking two and striking out two.
Akiya worked out of trouble in the first, as singles by the first two Mustang hitters and a wild pitch put runners on second and third with no outs. Akiya struck out the next two batters before issuing an intentional walk to the fifth-place hitter to load the bases. The final out of the inning came on a swinging strikeout as Morningside was held scoreless.
Yackley capped off the scoring with solo home run to deep right-center field in the bottom of the eighth. The homer was his third hit and third RBI of the game. Okawa finished with a pair of hits for Jamestown, which ended the game with nine hits overall.