The Benedictine Mesa baseball team came out strong but couldn't hold off Nelson University's late-game surge, falling 21-10.

The Redhawks wasted no time getting on the board in the first inning. Jacob Bauler singled to center, driving in Carlos Parra and Alec Larson to give Benedictine an early 2-0 lead. Jack Moore followed with an RBI single to left, scoring Bauler and extending the lead to 3-0. Nelson responded in the second, cutting the lead to 3-2 with a pair of RBI singles.

Benedictine kept the momentum going in the third. Bauler struck again with another RBI single, bringing home Joseph Cosenza. Moore added a sacrifice fly to score Ben Schnuman, and Bauler later stole home, pushing the lead to 6-2. In the fifth, Bauler continued his big day with a sacrifice fly that brought in Schnuman. Ethan Graham then delivered a clutch triple, plating two more runs before being thrown out at home, giving the Redhawks a 9-2 advantage.

However, Nelson University mounted a massive comeback in the sixth, exploding for six runs to cut the lead to 9-8. Their offense stayed hot in the seventh, putting up five more runs to take a 13-9 lead. Nelson tacked on four additional runs in the eighth and sealed the game with a four-run ninth. The Redhawks managed to push across a run in the bottom of the eighth, but it wasn't enough to overcome Nelson's late offensive surge.

Key Players

• Jacob Bauler: 2 runs, 2 hits, 4 RBIs
• Jack Moore: 1 run, 2 hits, 2 RBIs
• Ben Schnuman: 2 runs, 2 hits, 1 double, 1 triple

Looking Ahead

The Redhawks will look to bounce back as they take on Park Gilbert at home on Friday, March 21st.