SSU Baseball splits opening doubleheader with Union Commonwealth (12-5 W, 9-2 L)

WINCHESTER, Ky. -- The baseball program at Shawnee State used a monster outing from its one, two and four-hole hitters in the batting order -- Nolan Tressler, Jace Parnin and Mason Reid -- to take home the season-opening contest in a doubleheader against Union Commonwealth, with the Bears utilizing an 8-for-13 day with one double, one home run, seven RBI and six runs scored from the above trio together to collect a 12-5 victory over the Bulldogs in the first game of a doubleheader that was held at George Rogers Clark High School in Winchester, Ky. due to inclement weather from earlier in the week forcing the game's movement from Barbourville, Ky.

Game 1 -- (Shawnee State 12, Union Commonwealth (Ky.) 5

From the outset, Shawnee State wasted no time jumping all over Union Commonwealth -- as a leadoff single and a stolen base by Tressler to begin the game had the Bears in scoring position with just one out in the top half of the opening frame.

After a single to left field by Diego Mendoza put runners at the corners, Reid, a 6-3, 210-pound junior newcomer from Ventura College in California, brought Tressler home on the first at-bat of his Shawnee State career with an RBI double. A wild pitch and an error then brought Mendoza and Reid in, and after the opening half inning of competition, the lead was 3-0 in favor of Shawnee State.

The Bears then built that lead further in the second frame of play -- as the 7-8-9 hitting combination of Zach Gaspar, Ryan Scott and Tyler Lund all reached base after Gaspar and Lund were hit by pitches and Scott was walked. With the lineup recycled back up to the top of the order, Parnin came through two batters later and drove in a pair of runs with a two-RBI single that scored Gaspar and Scott, pushing the Shawnee State advantage to a 5-0 count.

While Union Commonwealth was able to work back into the game in the middle innings and cut the lead to a 5-4 margin, primarily behind a two-RBI double by Union Commonwealth designated hitter Ryan Brown, Tressler and Gaspar all but zapped the energy out of the Bulldogs as Tressler's solo home run to lead off the fourth frame, and Gaspar's solo blast to head up the fifth inning, gave Shawnee State a 7-4 cushion with the Bears still batting in the top half of the fifth inning of play.

Shawnee State then added three more runs in the fifth after Gaspar's inning-opening tank, as after a pair of walks, Parnin, a junior from Vincennes (Ind.), shot an RBI single to center while Reid followed with a two-RBI single back to center field, pushing the Bears' lead to a 10-4 margin. SSU wasn't severely challenged from that point forward in the game, and added a pair of runs in the top of the sixth as a passed ball and an RBI groundout by Mendoza sealed the scoring for the Bears in the win.

For the contest, Parnin (4-for-5, 3 RBI, R), Reid (2-for-5, 2B, 3 RBI, R), Tressler (2-for-3, BB, HR, RBI, SB, 4 R) and Gaspar (1-for-3, HR, RBI, 2 R) led the Shawnee State offense, while Mendoza (1-for-3, walk, RBI, run scored) and Lund (1-for-3, sacrifice, run scored) also reached the hit column in Game 1 for Shawnee State.

Game 2 -- Union Commonwealth (Ky.) 9, Shawnee State 2

In Saturday's Game 2 loss to Union Commonwealth, Shawnee State was led by Tressler, who went 2-for-4 with a double, a stolen base, an RBI and a run scored from his leadoff spot, and Hunter Warner, who went 1-for-2 with an RBI single.

Warner brought home Mason Reid in the fourth following an error, while Tressler brought in Wyatt Haupt, who walked to begin the seventh inning, on an RBI single.

Eli Jones (1-for-2, BB) collected the remaining hit for Shawnee State in the contest.

Additional

Shawnee State (1-1) will face Union Commonwealth Sunday afternoon in another doubleheader that also begins at 12 p.m. at the same game site.