WEATHERFORD – SWOSU Baseball scored 13 runs across the first, third, and fifth innings and held off a late rally to defeat Adams State 13-10 on Friday in the series opener at the SWOSU Athletic Complex.
The Bulldogs erupted for eight runs in the third inning — their highest-scoring inning of the season — but were forced to withstand a late push from the Grizzlies, who brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth before running out of outs.
For the fifth straight game, SWOSU scored in its first at-bat, answering a two-run top of the first by Adams State. The Grizzlies jumped out early after three straight hits to begin the game, grabbing a 1-0 lead and adding another RBI on the next batter to go up 2-0 before starter
Drew Fifer settled in to strike out the next two and escape the inning.
SWOSU responded immediately in the bottom half.
John Spoto doubled to lead off the frame, and Kataro Wakui delivered an RBI triple later in the inning before a sacrifice fly erased the deficit and tied the game.
With the score knotted at 2-2 in the third, the Bulldogs seized control with an eight-run inning on just three hits. Five free passes plagued the Grizzlies, and SWOSU made them pay with timely knocks, including RBI singles from
Rusty Wortman,
Keaton Fisher, and
Jose Mendoza.
Wakui delivered another RBI triple in the fifth to push the lead to 12-3, and an RBI single by
Nolan McCrossin later in the inning made it 13-3, briefly putting the game into run-rule territory.
Adams State responded quickly, scoring five runs in the sixth inning against the Bulldog bullpen. Fifer (W, 1-1) did not return for the sixth after working the first five innings, finishing with six strikeouts while allowing six hits and three earned runs with three walks. The Grizzlies added two more runs in the eighth and continued to apply pressure into the ninth before SWOSU reliever
Conner Watson shut the door to secure the win. Watson earned the long save, throwing the final three innings.
Fisher led the SWOSU offense with a 3-for-5 performance. Wakui, Spoto, and Wortman also posted multi-hit games.
Games two and three of the series will be played Saturday, February 7, beginning at 11:00 a.m. The final game is set for Sunday, February 8, also at 11:00 a.m., moved up an hour from the originally scheduled noon start.
