Leavenworth, Kan. – The Friends University Falcons slugged six home runs in a pair of victories over the University of Saint Mary Spires today (Apr. 13) in Leavenworth, Kan. The Falcons won by scores of 16-1 and 11-3 to finish off the series sweep of the Spires. The Falcons are now 28-16 overall and remain in the fourth spot in the KCAC with a 19-13 league record.
The Falcons wasted no time in taking control, with a three-run homer by Melwin Perez putting an exclamation point in a six-run first frame that Tyler Godfrey started with an RBI double.
After Niquan Benjamin doubled in Buster Hardman in the second, Spencer Davidson and DJ Killion led off the third with consecutive home runs to make the score 9-0.
Following a sacrifice fly by Killion and a run-scoring double from Perez, the Falcons really jumped on the Spires in the seventh inning when Zeke Henson drove home Carlos Rodriguez with a sacrifice fly and Davidson unloaded his second homer of the game, a grand slam to account for the Falcons' 16th runs of the game.
The grand slam gave Davidson a career-high six RBIs to go along with three hits and three runs scored. Perez also had three hits and tied his career-best RBI output with four runs driven. Rodriguez went 3-of-4 and Henson crossed the plate three times.
The 16-run explosion was much more run support than Francisco Moscoso required, as the Barahona, Dominican Republic native charged through seven innings with 10 strikeouts and one run allowed.
The nightcap saw the Falcons once again take an early lead with a sacrifice fly from Benjamin in the first inning.
Francisco Villarreal singled in the tying run in the second inning for Saint Mary, but the Falcons jumped on the Spires with a seven-spot in the third frame to break things open.
Godfrey again got things rolling with an RBI single for the first run of the inning before scoring on Henson's team-leading 13th home run of the season.
A two-run double by Sam Engberg was sandwiched around RBI doubles by Perez and Benjamin that put the Falcons on top 8-1.
An RBI single by Daniel Martinez in the third and a run-scoring double by Preston Gibson in the fourth brought the Spires within five runs, but the Falcons answered with a run of their own in the sixth and a two-run blast from Rodriguez in the seventh finished things off.
"Jaime, Moscoso and Black were really good, they dominated in all three games," said Friends baseball head coach Adam Neisius. "We were a little sluggish in game one offensively but our hitters made good adjustments on Saturday and made it a fun weekend."
Two hits apiece from Benjamin, Godfrey, Killion, Perez and Engberg fueled the Falcons' 13-hit attack in the second game victory.
Eli Prine had three hits for the Spires (16-26, 10-19 KCAC) from the leadoff spot.
Brett Black got the win for the Falcons in the nightcap, going six innings and striking out seven with no walks and three runs allowed.
Vincent Vigil then struck out a batter in a scoreless seventh frame for the Falcons.
The Falcons will next return home for the final eight games of the 2024 regular season, starting with the series finale against Ottawa University Tuesday afternoon (Apr. 16) at 3 pm at West Side Athletic Field.
