Dober, Eagles Take One from Falcons

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Ricky Dober slugged his first collegiate home run to highlight an exciting win in the series opener, but the Falcons (8-9, 2-2 KCAC) rebounded to win both games of Saturday's doubleheader and defeat the Eagles (11-10, 2-2 KCAC) in the first weekend KCAC series of the 2023 season this weekend at The Z.

Motivated and energized after their walkoff win over (RV) Ottawa on Tuesday, Avila Baseball got right back to work on Friday and Saturday, hosting a Friends team that made the KCAC Tournament a season ago but was off to an inconsistent start to this season. It took a while, but Avila eventually earned its second straight walkoff win (and fourth of the young season already) in a thrilling comeback victory in Friday's series opener.

But it took quite a while for the Eagles to get there. Avila struggled to solve Friends starter Nolan Crumrine, who shut the Eagles out for the first six innings of the contest. Meanwhile, Friends was able to rack up a bunch of hits (15 total in the game) but only one of them went for extra bases – Avila starter Jarret Dotson did well to avoid big innings all day, keeping Avila within 2-0 after six innings.

And finally, the Eagle offense broke through in the bottom of the seventh. After another scoreless frame from Dotson, Avila found success against Crumrine in the bottom half, courtesy of the bottom of the order. Reyes Willis doubled and Austin Reams singled with one out, setting up an RBI single from Dober and a sacrifice fly from Jacob Nevels to level the score at two apiece.

Dotson returned for the top of the 8thon the cusp of 100 pitches, and the Falcons swiftly managed to bleed out two more runs off four more singles to grab the lead again. This time, the Eagles rallied immediately against the Friends bullpen: with two outs, Willis hit a blooper that fell into right field that Friends couldn't handle cleanly. Pinch-runner Tristan Garbutt scored on the hit, and right fielder Sam Engberg's throw went wayward, bringing Isaiah Alvarez home to tie the score at 4 apiece.

That set up yet another dramatic finish to a game at The Z this season. Gaven Mooney tossed a scoreless ninth and Spencer Davidson entered to pitch the bottom half. Ricky Dober took the first two pitches for balls and got the green light to swing on 2-0 and made it count, blasting his first collegiate home run to center field to give the Eagles a 5-4 win in the bottom of the ninth, their second straight walkoff win.

The Eagles were now riding high after their second straight thrilling win to open conference competition, but they were not able to convert that into much success in Saturday's doubleheader. Avila was unable to generate consistent offense in either game Saturday while Friends took advantage of just enough of their opportunities to rally to win the series.

Caleb Coats tripled and Niquan Benjamin doubled and both runners came in to score in the first inning, indicating that day two might go a little different for the Falcons than day one did. Avila pulled one back in the bottom half thanks to Landon Vahle, who singled, stole second and scored on a knock by Jack Virden, but Friends got that run back in the fifth on an RBI double from Pablo Oden.

Alex Walton continued his excellent season in relief, throwing four full innings out of the bullpen and allowing just two hits and one run, a solo home run to Devon Lujan in the eighth. Alvarez singled in Vahle to bring in another run off starter Daniel Jaime in the sixth, but unlike on Friday Avila could not strike against Friends' bullpen in this game – three relievers combined to hold the Eagles to one hit and no runs, preserving a 4-2 win.

That set up a rubber match to decide the series in Saturday's 7-inning finale. Friends once again struck early, taking advantage of a couple of walks to score twice in the top of the first, but Avila answered, tying the game in the second after RBI from Virden and Reams.

But Avila's pitching staff could not consistently keep the Falcons off the board in this game like they had done in the previous two: Friends scored multiple runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings, highlighted by a 3-run homer from Oliver Dunn, leaving the Eagles no time to stage a comeback. Jack Dotterer and Seth Kilbourn combined to shut the Falcons out in the final two innings and Vahle drove in Dober in the sixth but that was all for the Eagles in this game, with Friends prevailing 10-3 to win the series 2-1.

Up next, Avila baseball will hit the road for the first time this conference season this Tuesday, March 7 when the Eagles travel to Saint Mary for that midweek series opener. First pitch is slated for 2 PM, and you can watch all the action on the KCAC Network.