Ottawa, Kan. – For the second straight Tuesday, the Friends University Falcons have come out on top of an NAIA ranked opponent, this time defeating the No. 21-ranked Ottawa University Braves 11-4 today (Apr. 1) in Ottawa, Kan. Last week, the Falcons outslugged No. 18-ranked Mid-America Christian University 28-15.
Spencer Davidson got the Falcons started strong today with his fourth homer of the season, a two-run blast in the second inning that made it 2-0.
A balk later in the inning plated Niquan Benjamin and Nijai Armbrister singled home Carlos Rodriguez to cap a five-run fourth frame that gave the Falcons an 8-0 cushion.
After the Braves got on the board on a solo homer by Nicholas Sizemore in the bottom of the fifth, Armbrister again chased home Rodriguez, this time with a double in the sixth.
Zeke Henson then brought home both Benjamin and Bernie Socarras with a single in the seventh for an 11-1 lead.
A two-run single by Cole Broughton finished a three-run seventh inning for the Braves, but Jackson Walls and Keagan Alejo each pitched a scoreless inning to close out the victory for Friends.
"It's been fun to watch the guys over the last month," said Friends baseball head coach Adam Neisius. "We talked about playing our best baseball at the right time of year, hopefully we're on track for that. I don't think we're there yet, we got some things we can be more consistent with. Good game at Ottawa today, it was a staff day on the mound and all those guys did a nice job. Our line up continues to be very productive, hopefully that stays consistent."
Socarras, Davidson and Miles Hartman each had three hits for the Falcons, with Benjamin and Armbrister tallying two hits apiece.
Broughton had two hits for the Braves (29-7, 20-5 KCAC).
As Neisius noted, it was a bullpen game on the mound for the Falcons, with Matthew Benton starting the game with a scoreless inning and Alejo being credited with the win by tossing a scoreless ninth frame with a pair of strikeouts.
The Falcons will next host a three-game series at home against York University, with a single game Thursday (Apr. 3) at 2 pm due to forecasted rain on Friday. The series will then conclude with a doubleheader Sunday (Apr. 6) at noon.
