SCHRANZ LEADS BASEBALL TO HOME OPENER SPLIT

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Avila baseball was back at The Z on Friday afternoon for its home opener as they split two with Dordt on a bitterly cold Midwest afternoon.

The Eagles dominated the first game, winning 11-0 behind six innings of two-hit ball from starting pitcher Cashen Schranz. Aiden Johnson came on in the seventh inning to close the door and secure the shutout victory.

In the first game – Avila's first time back on campus in nearly 10 months – the Eagles used their offense to support Schranz's dominating start on the bump.

Avila put together a six-run first inning, behind RBIs from Zach Dillman, Ricky Dober and JJ Stubblefield. The Eagles would then put up back-to-back two-run innings in the third and fourth. Gio Armas supplied the third-inning runs with a two-RBI double to left field.

In the fourth, Dober laced an RBI double to score Jack Virden. Thomas English scored Dober two batters later with a sac fly to left field. After four innings, Avila led 10-0.

The Eagles put up an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth with a Dober sac fly to score Dillman to finalize the 11-0 victory. Armas (two), Dober (three) and English (two) led Avila with multi-RBI games in the win.

In Game No. 2, Dordt's offense arrived and the two teams played nearing darkness into extras, with the Defenders picking up a 5-4 win in nine innings.

Taking a cue from the first game, Avila put up two in the first inning thanks to a Dillman RBI single and an eventual Vahle run on a Dordt throwing error.

The Defenders answered back in the top of the second, plating three runs on a sac fly, run-scoring single and RBI groundout on three-consecutive batters.

In the bottom of the third – for the first time at home – Virden smacked a two-run homer over the right field fence to put Avila back in the lead, 4-3.

As was the case after the first inning, Dordt responded back to a multi-run Avila inning.

Dordt scored a run in the fourth to tie the game at four.

The teams would remain scoreless for the remainder of the seven-scheduled innings, heading to extras as the temperature dropped.

In the top of the ninth, Dordt scored the winning run on an RBI groundout. The Eagles were able to limit the damage to one run in the ninth, but could not score in the bottom half of the inning to settle the 5-4 defeat.

Out of the bullpen, Jackson Foster put up two perfect innings, striking out four of the six batters he faced.

Avila and Dordt will be back at it on Saturday afternoon for two more. First pitch from The Z is slated for 12 PM.