Baseball season ends with 11-5 loss in GWC tournament

The UNC baseball team’s season ended Friday with an 11-5 loss to Houston Baptist in Orem, Utah at the Great West Conference Tournament.

HBU handed the University of Northern Colorado, which ends its season with a 27-33 overall record and fourth place in the conference, both of its losses in the double-elimination tournament.

The Bears and Huskies were tied at one after three innings before HBU broke the game open with one run in the fourth, three runs in the fifth and six runs in the sixth.

UNC senior outfielder Adrian Schenk got hit by a pitch with two outs in the seventh inning, stole second base and scored on a single by senior third baseman Tony Crudo. Crudo went 4-for-4 in the game with two RBIs and one run scored and was the only Bear with more than one hit.

UNC loaded the bases in the ninth inning and managed to plate three more runs, but the deficit was too large to come back from.

The Bears started the tournament Tuesday with a 10-3 loss to HBU. UNC left 12 runners on base in that game and committed four errors.

The Huskies batted around in the first inning, scoring five runs on six hits. The Bears added one run in the first and third innings before HBU tacked on four more runs in the sixth. UNC answered with one in the seventh and Houston Baptist added one in the ninth for the final margin.

Northern Colorado came back the next day in dominating fashion, getting a seven-inning, 11-1 run-rule victory against the New York Institute of Technology behind the arm of junior pitcher Jake Johnson.

Johnson allowed just one run on four hits with one walk and one strike out in the game. The Bears held a 2-1 lead after the fourth, but a four-run fifth and a five-run seventh gave UNC the shortened victory per conference rules.

UNC freshman left fielder Jensen Park went 3-for-4 at the plate with two RBIs and senior shortstop Adam Hilker had one hit in the game but also had three RBIs.

On Thursday, in a game that lasted three hours and 58 minutes, the Bears outlasted Texas-Pan American with a 14-13 walk-off victory.

Freshman Taylor Anderson hit the first triple of his career to score two runs in the bottom of the ninth and give the Bears the win after they blew a five-run lead.

Northern Colorado led 10-5 after five innings, but the Broncos scored two in the sixth inning and six in the eighth to take a 13-10 lead.

UNC scored two in the eighth inning and the ninth to stay alive in the tournament.

In the final game of the season, Hilker had his streak of 56 consecutive games of being on base snapped along with his 22-game hitting streak. Senior first baseman Casey Coy also went hitless, bringing an end to his 14-game hitting streak.

Senior Nate Steinmetz pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings in his final outing, allowing two hits with one walk and one strikeout.

Northern Colorado loses eight seniors from this team in Coy, Crudo, Hilker, outfielder Kevin Hurd, Schenk, Steinmetz and pitchers Cameron Tallman and Joe Willman.