Well-timed scoring and sensational pitching were the ultimate deciding factors in the Bloomsburg University baseball team’s three-game sweep over Winston-Salem University (North Carolina) this past weekend.
During Saturday’s double-header, the Huskies put on a stellar offensive performance in their first-game against the Rams, scoring 10-runs with eight different players registering an RBI. After five innings of play, the men had already established a comfortable 4-0 lead when right fielder Cole Swiger cracked a crowd demoralizing homerun against WSSU pitcher, Jalen Scott.
However, Winston-Salem would eventually claw-back and knock-in four consecutive runs to cut the deficit to one heading into the 8th inning. Nevertheless, the Huskies bats responded emphatically scoring five-runs over the next two innings to conclude the win with a final score of 10-4.
Bloomsburg senior pitcher Ashton Raines got the win for his solid 6.2 innings of work with five strikeouts. The two standouts stars in Saturday’s first game were Cole Swiger and Jared Burcin. Swiger went 3-out-of-5 with a 3 runs scored. Additionally, Swiger’s 3 homeruns this season leads the team. Burcin had an efficient day at the plate hitting 2-for-3 including a double during the second-inning.
In game two, the Huskies bats would fall asleep, well not all of them because someone forgot to read Nate Krizan and Jake Reed a bedtime story. Krizan hit a momentum-fueling 2-run single in the third inning igniting the huskies offensive barrage. That timely-single increased the Huskies lead to 3-0, giving pitcher Nick Stoner some much needed breathing room.
The Huskies would go on to score 4-runs over the next two innings, three of which were caused by the sophomore third baseman, Jake Reed. Reed, who already scored a run off the Krizan single, smacked a 2-run single of his very own sending follow teammates Colton Hooker and Ryan Shifer across plate to build a 6-2 lead. Reed would then advance to third after outfielder Carter Chasanov flew out to right-field, placing him in perfect position to add to the Huskies lead. Reed would scoring the team’s seventh run on a wild pitch thrown by Winston-Salem pitcher Cole Parks.
The men would go-on to win Game 2 of the double-header with a final score of 7-5. Bloomsburg pitcher Nick Stoner earned the win allowing just 5-hits over the 5 crucial innings he pitched in Saturday’s second matchup.
The final game of the series would take place on Monday due to Sunday’s scheduled game being postponed. No matter; the Huskies would go on to complete the 3-game sweep of WSSU with the final score 4-1, improving Bloomsburg’s record to 6-1 this season. This latest dominating performance over Winston-Salem keeps Head Coach Mike Collin’s ball club in third place in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC).
