Avila Recovers for Pair of Victories over (RV) Friends

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Less than a day after a rough outing in a big loss on Friday, Avila baseball (15-16, 11-8 KCAC) rebounded in a big way on Saturday at The Z, righting the ship and earning a pair of one-run victories over (RV) Friends (22-11, 13-8 KCAC).

The Falcons flexed their muscle and showcased both the offense and the pitching that's helped them win more than 20 games and earn some votes in the NAIA coaches' poll in the series opener on Friday at The Z, torching Avila for 21 runs on 17 hits. The game was close, 4-3, after three innings with both teams cashing in, but Friends then broke it open with six runs in the fourth and capped things off by scoring nine runs in the eighth to wrap the game up early.

Every Falcon starter reached base at least once in the game, and a total of 15 walks issued by five different Eagle pitchers sunk Avila's chances to rally once Friends grabbed the lead for good in the fourth. Friends got the ball rolling with two runs in the top of the first before Avila punched right back with three in the second, thanks to RBI from Paxton Andrade, JJ Stubblefield and Landon Vahle. But the Falcons then scratched across two runs in the third off starter Cashen Schranz to take the lead, and moved in front for good once DJ Killion hit a grand slam to highlight the fourth inning. The Eagles could not mount another rally against Friends starter Daniel Jaime, who threw all eight innings in the 21-3 victory for the visitors.

That lopsided loss came at the end of a trying seven days for Avila baseball. The Eagles battled in two of the three games but ultimately dropped all three at Oklahoma Wesleyan the previous weekend. They then followed that by coughing up a huge lead in the ninth inning and dropping Tuesday's series opener against York. And then came Friday's run-rule defeat. Even without all that context, Saturday's showing would have been impressive, but especially when considering what the team had endured on the field over the previous week, Avila's two wins over Friends on Saturday turned into a prime example of the maturity, discipline, and true talent the team possesses in 2024.

That's not to say Friends made it easy on Saturday. Far from it: the Eagles had to fight for every run they got, and ultimately managed to sweat out an exciting pair of one-run wins in Saturday's doubleheader, fully putting Friday's foibles in the rearview and managing a pair of wins over a high-quality opponent that certainly sets the Eagles on course for their first postseason appearance in this conference in team history in less than six weeks' time.

Facing top Falcon starter Francisco Moscoso, the Eagles threatened in nearly every inning. Moscoso has been stellar this season for Friends but clearly was not at his best Saturday – even still, Friends and head coach Adam Neisius, who won his 600^th career game as a head coach earlier in the week, continued to ride with their ace, a decision that might have ultimately cost them the game. Landon Vahle doubled to open the game and later scored on a base hit from Gio Armas to give the Eagles an early lead that was eliminated when Zeke Henson blasted a three-run homer to right to put Friends on top. A Bryce Culp single brought one run back, but Friends then scored three more in the fifth and sixth to touch up what was overall an excellent spot start from freshman Austin Rodgers, who pitched into the sixth inning for the first time in his college career.

Corbin Hamman entered to get the Eagles through the sixth and was lights out in relief, nullifying Friends' efforts to add on to what was then a 6-2 lead. And immediately, the Eagle offense engineered a breakthrough against Moscoso in the bottom half of the inning. An early double play looked like it might end the inning with zero issue at all, but Moscoso simply could not record the final out as the Eagles continued to battle against him. Paxton Andrade started the inning by beating out a grounder and Vahle and Culp later walked to load the bases, and the middle of the Eagle order came through in a huge way.

Gio Armas started things off by punching a base hit through the right side to score two runs, and Ricky Dober followed with a bloop hit to left to load the bases once again. Zach Dillman stepped up and cleared the bases with a thunderous double to the fence in left, bringing in all three runners, giving Avila the lead, and finally forcing Friends to take Moscoso out. Matthew Benton came in and got the last out of the inning quickly, but not before Avila had come all the way back with five runs on three hits to grab a 7-6 lead.

From there, the bullpens dominated. Both Hamman and Benton struck out two batters in the seventh, and the only baserunner either allowed in the eighth came off a walk by Armas. That sent the game into the ninth with the Eagles still ahead by one, and Logan Empson, who has been a starter all season for the Eagles, was summoned to record the final three outs. It's been a common practice for Avila to employ a pitcher to either start in the midweek and close on the weekends or vice versa; Briley Burrow and Chase VanSteenburg, to name just two, have both served in that role over the past few years, and, this week, Empson, who started against York on Tuesday, served as the closer for Matt Carpenter on Saturday.

And Empson looked well suited to his new role. Friends threatened once again, putting a couple of baserunners on board thanks to some executed small ball, but a new-look Avila infield put the finishing touches on the victory when Empson forced Tyler Godfrey to ground a ball to first base with the tying run on second: Landon Vahle, making his first career start at first, stepped on first to get the second out, and then threw back to second base where Diego Solis, making his first career start at shortstop, applied the tag on Ryan Sylvester to end the game, wrapping up a 7-6 victory for the Eagles and sending the series to a decisive game three.

Both teams managed to score early in Saturday's finale, but from there it seemed like all the offense that was on display to that point in the series finally had run dry. Both starting pitchers went the distance in the seven-inning contest; indeed, Friends needed to use only four pitchers to complete a three-game series (Avila used five on Friday alone, including Travis Curry making his collegiate pitching debut) but the Eagles still managed to do enough to prevail in both games on Saturday and win the series.

Friends got on the board first Saturday off a ground-rule double by Henson, but Avila punched back thanks to a leadoff homer from Vahle in the home half. Solis then drove in his first collegiate run in the form of Andrade in the second inning to give the Eagles their first lead, and that was where the score remained. Avila threatened but could not score again off starter Brett Black, and Friends, which scored 21 runs on Friday, had no solution for Avila starter Alex Walton, who was phenomenal once again in the seven-inning affair.

Black was excellent for Friends, allowing seven hits and two earned runs with four strikeouts and no walks over six innings. But Walton was that much better, flashing his trademark efficiency and keeping Friends off balance for the entire game. Walton allowed just five hits and one earned run with one walk against six strikeouts over seven full innings after throwing three-plus in relief of Empson on Tuesday. Walton is now 5-0 this season after his second complete-game victory in Avila's 2-1 win, clinching the series victory over Friends.

Avila was next scheduled to complete the midweek series at York on Tuesday afternoon, but those games have now been moved to a later date due to inclement weather. The new dates of those games will be revealed when they are announced. Instead, the Eagles will now next play at home next weekend in a three-game series against McPherson. The action begins with a doubleheader on Friday and a single game Saturday, starting at noon both days. As always, you can watch all the action live and for free on the Avila Sports Network.