Sterling, Kan.- The University of Saint Mary baseball team traveled to take on Sterling Colle in game one of their weekend series on Friday, resulting in an 8-4 win. The Spires are now 17-27 overall and 11-20 in conference play. 

Hayden Roop started on the bump for Saint Mary and was vital in keeping the Warriors at bay, throwing seven innings and giving up four runs on ten hits with four strikeouts. After two innings, the Spires struck first in the top of the third, driving in six runs. An error by the Warrior's second baseman allowed Francisco Villareal to score and left the base loaded. Daniel Martinez and Eli Prine both drew walks, scoring two more runs for Saint Mary. Back-to-back RBI singles from Bryce Turner and Villareal made it a 6-0 ball game heading into the bottom half of the inning. 

Sterling responded with three runs of their own in the third and fourth innings to chip away at the comfortable USM lead. Preston Gibson opened the sixth inning with a solo home run to bring the Siant Mary lead back to four runs. Later in the sixth inning, Prine doubled to left center for the eighth and final run of the day for the Spires, making the score 8-3. A sacrifice fly for the Warriors in the seventh brought Sterling back with four runs, but clutch relief pitching from John Berislavich and Jacob Castaneda helped close the book on game one of the series with an 8-4 USM win. 

Up Next

The Spires will conclude their weekend series against Sterling College with a doubleheader starting at noon on Saturday in Sterling, Kansas.