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Vikings Earn First Win at Abilene Classic
ABILENE, TX (March 11, 2004) - Jeff Hanson of Hillside Covenant Church in
Walnut Creek, California, pitched a complete game and struck out ten as
North Park University (NPU) earned its first victory of the season on
Wednesday, an 8-7 thriller against Friends University of Wichita, Kansas
at the three-day Abilene Classic.
Coach Steve Vanden Branden's team avenged a 14-4 to Friends on Tuesday.
The Vikings lost 10-5 to St. Francis University of Joliet, Illinois, on
Wednesday night to fall to 1-6 overall. NPU plays three games at Texas
Wesleyan University in Arlington, starting Friday, to close out its
spring trip.
Nick Zayas singled and Justin Lezon was hit by a pitch to open
Wednesday's game with Friends. Brandon McHugh then produced a double to
score both Zayas and Lezon and eventually scored on a Steve Kottra
single. NPU added two more runs in the top of the third inning but
Friends tallied four in the bottom of the inning to narrow its deficit
to 5-4.
The Vikings scored their final three runs in the fourth inning as Justin
Conner singled, Kevin Carroll doubled and Zayas followed with a single
to score both Conner and Carroll. Zayas then stole second base and came
home on Lezon's single. From there, Hanson held the lead, allowing two
runs in the fourth and one in the seventh but striking out the final
hitter of the game.
Lezon had homered and Hanson had pitched well in the team's opening
game, a 5-2 loss at the University of Dallas last Saturday, before NPU
headed to Abilene for a tourney against some of the better small college
teams in the Midwest and Midsouth. All of the Vikings' opponents had
played at least 10 games and all but one were over .500.
Other highlights:
- In a 5-1 loss to Southwestern University of Texas on Tuesday, Brett
Cooper allowed only four hits in a complete game performance, but the
Vikings made three errors that led to five runs. The Vikings scored
their lone tally in the fourth inning on a walk to McHugh, a single by
Kottra, and a ground out by Matt Ripley.
- In Tuesday's loss to Friends, North Park scored three of its runs in
the sixth inning as Carroll singled, and Zayas, McHugh and Kottra
doubled. The Vikings scored their final run as Zayas singled in Joe
Martinelli, who had also singled.
- In a 21-2 loss to McMurry University of Abilene on Monday, Ripley
had a run scoring single but McMurry's Josh Lee was the star player,
hitting two homers.
- In Monday's 9-6 loss to Lubbock Christian College of Texas, McHugh
hit a homer and NPU had a 6-4 lead at one point before faltering. Peter
Morris of First Covenant Church of Seattle started his first game on the
mound after being injured in 2003. Morris is currently a student at
North Park Theological Seminary after graduating from NPU but had one
year of eligibility remaining and could play while taking Masters degree
classes.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
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