Senior outfielder
Ben Alison broke the single-season MNU home run record as he belted his 13th, 14th, and 15th of the season in a double header sweep at Graceland on Saturday.
Box and Play by Play In Game 1, Alison did damage early with a 3-run homer in the top of the first inning. Graceland answered with 1 run on 4 hits in the bottom of the inning, but that's as close as they got.
Alex Murrieta nailed a solo homer to lead off the top of the third, and
Kyle Segraves drove home 2 more later in the inning to increase the lead to 6-1. Alison broke the game open with a grand slam in the fifth, and the Pioneers cruised to an 11-3 victory.
Justin Huggins threw 6 innings for the victory. And
Kyle Segraves (2-4, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB, SB),
Ben Alison (3-5, 2 R, 2 HR, 7 RBI, SB),
Alex Murrieta (1-4, R, HR, RBI, BB), and
Kevin Liddle (1-1, 2 R, 3 BB, SB) led the offense.
Box and Play by Play In Game 2, the Pioneers jumped all over Graceland early and cruised to an 11-6 victory. In the top of the first,
Ben Alison opened the scoring with an RBI single.
Alex Murrieta and
Colin Starr followed with 2-run doubles before
Dillon Moeller closed the scoring with an RBI single to put MNU up 6-0. Graceland cut the lead in half with a 3-run second inning, but
Colin Starr popped a solo homer in the third and
Timothy Barraza did the same in the fourth to make it an 8-3 game.
Ben Alison capped his incredible day with yet another 3-run homer in the sixth for his 11th RBI of the day. Graceland scored 3 in the bottom of the sixth, but the Pioneers held on for the 5-run victory.
Trent Hedlund pitched into the sixth for the win. And
Kyle Segraves (2-4, 2 R, BB),
Timothy Barraza (2-2, 3 R, HR, RBI, BB, HBP),
Ben Alison (2-3, 2 R, HR, 4 RBI, BB),
Alex Murrieta (1-3, R, 2B, 2 RBI, BB),
Josh Greer (2-4, R, 3B), and
Colin Starr (2-4, 2 R, HR, 3 RBI) had big games at the plate.
The victory was MNU's 33rd of the season, breaking the school record for wins set last year.
The Pioneers are 33-12 (15-7 HAAC). The next game is a non conference single 9-inning contest at Friends (12-37) on Tuesday at 1:00.
