The Benedictine University Mesa Redhawks showed grit and flashes of offensive momentum, but ultimately came up short in both games of a doubleheader against Justice College, dropping Game 1 by a score of
7–5 and Game 2
5–1.
Game 1:
Justice College struck early in Game 1, capitalizing on traffic on the bases to score a run in the top of the first inning and two more in the second to take a 3–0 lead.
Benedictine responded quickly in the bottom of the second with a
three-run inning to even the game.
Ty Campbell sparked the offense with a single, followed by an RBI triple from
Tyler Jackson. Jackson later scored on a fielder's choice by
Jonas Dyas, and Dyas crossed the plate on a Justice error to knot the score at 3–3.
Justice regained the advantage with a three-run fourth inning, using a combination of extra-base hits and pressure on the basepaths to move ahead 6–3.
The Redhawks continued to battle. In the sixth, Benedictine added a run as
Jackson doubled and
Dyas delivered a sacrifice fly to cut the deficit to 6–4. Justice answered with a run in the seventh, but Benedictine again pushed back.
In the bottom of the seventh,
AJ Fernandez delivered an RBI double to score
Cooper Jeffries, trimming the margin to two and keeping the Redhawks within striking distance. Benedictine brought the tying run to the plate multiple times late, including a triple by
Oliver Davies in the ninth, but was unable to complete the comeback.
Game 2:
Justice once again plated an early run in the top of the first inning, scoring on a sacrifice fly after an extra-base hit. Benedictine threatened in the bottom half of the inning, reaching base via errors and applying pressure, but was unable to capitalize.
The Redhawks' breakthrough came in the
third inning, as
Cooper Jeffries tripled and later scored on an RBI double by
Oliver Davies, cutting the deficit to 2–1.
From there, pitching and defense kept the game tight until a pivotal sixth inning. Justice took advantage of multiple passed balls and defensive errors to score
three unearned runs, stretching the lead to 5–1.
Benedictine continued to compete defensively and generated baserunners late, but could not mount another scoring rally as Justice closed out the contest.
