WICHITA, Kan. – The Sterling College Warriors jumped out to an early lead and carried that to a 5-2 win in the KCAC series opener today (Mar. 29) at West Side Athletic Field. Prior to first pitch, a ceremony was held to recognize head coach Adam Neisius's 600th career victory.
The Warriors led from the outset, scoring four runs in the first inning to put the Falcons immediately in catchup mode.
Andrew Dutro doubled in the first run of the game and Austin Santiago capped the inning with a two-run single for Sterling.
An RBI double by Tyler Godfrey in the bottom of the first got the Falcons on the board, but Nate Heffline answered with an RBI double of his own to give the Warriors their four-run lead back.
It stayed 5-1 until Spencer Davidson chased home Godfrey with an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth.
With the Warriors threatening to add another tally in the ninth, Zeke Henson threw out Luis Morales at home with a solid throw from center field to keep the score 5-2.
That would be all the scoring, as both starting pitchers settled in following a shaky start. Trenton Canaan threw a complete game for the Warriors, allowing just one earned run and striking out two. After the four-run first frame, Daniel Jaime lasted seven more innings and gave up just one more run with a pair of strikeouts.
Niquan Benjamin went 2-of-4 for the Falcons (22-12, 13-9), while Dustin Chartrand and Eduardo Tarafa each had two hits for Sterling (14-16, 8-11 KCAC).
The Falcons and Warriors will play a doubleheader (9/7) tomorrow (Mar. 30) to wrap up the series.
