LAKE WALES, Fla. – The Spring Arbor University baseball team opened the second day of the Warner Invitational with a 7-0 setback to Holy Cross College, but rebounded with a 2-1 victory over Thomas University.
Spring Arbor struggled to get anything going offensively against Holy Cross, collecting just three hits for the game. The Saints (10-6) scored the first run in the second inning before adding three more – all with two outs – in the fourth.
The Cougars threatened in the fourth and fifth with a pair of runners reaching base in both innings, but were unable to cash in on either opportunity. Holy Cross would then put the game out of reach with three runs in the seventh.
Junior Mitchel Patterson picked up two of the SAU hits while classmate Jonathan Newman recorded one. Sophomore Drew Weston suffered the loss after surrendering four runs in 3.2 innings of work.
In the second game of the day, freshman Sam Memmelaar out-dueled Thomas' Monte Reese to earn his second win of the season. Memmelaar allowed just one run in 5.2 innings pitched while striking out three.
The Cougars got to TU's Reese early, plating a run in the second and another in the third. Freshman Conner Lengerich drew a two-out walk to extend the second inning. After stealing second base, Lengerich would come around to score on a single by fellow freshman Adam Rojas. Spring Arbor added to its lead an inning later when senior Chris Wegrzyn scored on a Tyler Baker sacrifice fly.
Trailing 2-1 in the fifth inning, Thomas (11-13) loaded the bases with nobody out, but Memmelaar worked his way out of the jam to preserve the lead.
Junior Heath Sullivan recorded his fourth save of the season after tossing 1.1 scoreless innings with a pair of strikeouts.
Spring Arbor (7-3) earned the No. 3-seed in the tournament and will play second-seeded Mount Vernon Nazarene University at 2 p.m. with the winner advancing to play St. Ambrose University in the championship game at 4:30 p.m.
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