Hawks to Hawai’i after four losses

ECS staff report

SURPRISE, Ariz. – The San Diego Christian College baseball team will head to Hawaii this week following a nightmare performance on defense over the weekend.

Despite improved pitching when compared to last season’s nightmare season playing every ballgame on the road, it’s the defense that is in need of repair following four straight setbacks at the Coach Calderon Memorial Invitational.

Starting with a 4-error outing which led to 12 unearned runs — including seven unearned runs in the seventh innings in the opener, SDCC fell to Taylor (Ind.) 20-8. The Hawks (1-7 overall) then dropped decisions to Mid-America Nazareth (17-6), College of Idaho (9-7), and Kansas Wesleyan (9-4).

Highlights:

Game 1: Sophomore left-fielder Anthony Macchia drilled a 3-run homer among his four RBI in a 3-fir-4 outing. Senior Billy Strohm also homered.

Game 2: Leadoff batter Cade Cabral registered four hits and scored twice. The second baseball was one of four Hawks to steal a base.

Game 3: Sophomore catcher Alec Arcone drove in four runs, including a 2-run homer, as the Hawks rallied from an 8-0 deficit, but fell short against The Coyotes’ bullpen.

Game 4: A half-dozen Hawks pitchers combined to limit KWU to just three hits, but the leaky defense ruined the effort. The top pitcher was Anthony Chiaramonte, who retired all six batters her faced in a pair of perfect innings from out of the bullpen.

San Diego Christian will face NCAA Division II Hawai’i-Hilo in a 5-game series. Included will be a single game on Friday (Feb. 4), then doubleheaders on both Friday and Saturday.