WEATHERFORD, Oklahoma — In the final game of a four game series against Southwestern Oklahoma State University, the Grizzlies fall on a walk-off home run losing 6-5. The loss gave SWOSU the sweep against the Grizzlies, and drops Adams State to a record of 1-7 after the first two weekends of the year.
In today's game the Grizzlies were able to jump out to a quick lead just like game 1 and 2 of the series. The Grizzlies were able to score 2 runs in the first, and 1 in the third to take a 3-0 in the first three innings. Offensively, Adams State got things rolling with a sacrifice fly by Ryan Vandever to score Christian Altamriano, and an RBI single by Seth Reker to score Isaiah Pruitt. This was followed by an RBI double by Ayden Tauscher in the third inning to again score Pruitt, giving the Grizzlies their 3-0 lead. The Grizzly offense was followed up by outstanding pitching by Austin Delgado in the first three innings as well as he did not allow a hit by SWOSU for the first three innings. After the third inning SWOSU was able to finally respond by tying the game in the fourth inning and later taking a 2-run lead in the fifth inning. SWOSU was able to take advantage of untimely mistakes defensively by the Grizzlies allowing them to scratch their way back into the game. After the fifth inning when SWOSU took the lead nobody scored again until the Grizzlies were able to tie up the game with a Reker 2-run double in the seventh inning to score Vandever and Josh Parks. The seventh inning runs by the Grizzlies were the last runs scored by the Grizzlies and last runs scored until Rusty Wortman for SWOSU hit the game-winning walk-off home run to give SWOSU the 6-5 win.
Looking into the individual statistics for the Grizzlies, on the mound Austin Delgado started the game for the Grizzlies. Delgado finished with a final line of 4+ innings pitched, allowing 6 hits, 4 runs(3 earned), while striking out 3. Following Delgado was Justin Arellano who threw 4 outstanding innings, only allowing 4 hits, and 1 run, while collecting 5 strikeouts for a career best strikeout performance. Following Arellano was Paul Ruiz who received the loss in today's game, giving up the walk-off home run in the bottom of the tenth. Ruiz finished with a final line of 1 inning, 1 hit allowed, and 1 run. The loss for Ruiz moves him to 1-2 on the season.
Offensively for the Grizzlies they were led by Isaiah Pruitt, Seth Reker, and Gunner Martinez who all collected 2 hits on the day. Pruitt finished the day with a double and a single, while scoring 2 runs on the day. Reker was vital in the Grizzlies offense as he also collected a double and a single. Reker collected 3 RBIs for the Grizzlies and delivered the game-tying double in the 7th the give the Grizzlies the opportunity to win the game late. For Martinez, he finished the day 2 for 4 with 2 singles. Also involved in the Grizzlies offense today was Altamirano who collected 1 hit and 3 walks to reach base 3 times. Altamirano also scored the first run of the day for the Grizzlies in the first inning. Outside of these four, Parks, Macs Carrillo, and Ayden Tauscher all collected hits for the Grizzlies giving them 10 total hits on the day. The story of the day for the Grizzly offense was their inability to score the multitude of base runners they had in today's game. The Grizzlies were only able to score 5 runs even though they collected 18 base runners. They finished the game leaving 13 total base runners on base which was a huge piece in them not being able to pull away early in today's game to take the game four win.
Looking forward for the Grizzlies, their next game will be next Friday, February 13th when they take on Wayland Baptist University in a doubleheader. The first game of Friday's doubleheader will start at 12 PM MST, with the second game following directly after the conclusion of game one. Friday's doubleheader will be the first two games of a four-game series and will be a great opportunity for the Grizzlies to get back on track before their pre-conference season comes to an end. Tune into the Grizzlies games next Friday as they prepare this next week to get back on the winning train next week in Plainview, Texas.
