Spartans Open 2014 Campaign
Mar 7, 2014 | J.Crane
FULTON, MISSOURI - The University of Dubuque Baseball team was finally able to begin the 2014 season after having its first three games of the season cancelled because of severe weather. The Spartans lost the opener 2-0 against Westminster College (2-0) before a 5-2 defeat in the second game. UD played errorless defense on the day. Freshman Daniel Casanova (Lake Tapps, Wash./Auburn Riverside) reached base five time in seven plate appearances. Dubuque is 0-2 on the young season.
| Score by Innings | - Game 1 - | R | H | E | |||||||
| Spartans | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| Westminster | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | X | - | 2 | 6 | 2 |
| Win: Miller (1-0) Loss: Eastman (0-1) | |||||||||||
| BOX SCORE | |||||||||||
The key to the 2014 season for the Spartans will be how well the freshman play as UD started six first-year players in the opener. Freshman accounted for three of the Spartans five hits with Casanova connecting for two hits while Eric Hall (Oak Lawn, Ill./Richards) recorded his first career hit.
The best scoring opportunity for the Spartans came in the second inning after a one out double by Michael Riordan (Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central). Hall reached on an error and Eddie Pablo (Yelm, Wash./Yelm) walked to load the bases before a strikeout and fly out ended the inning.
Josh Eastman (Edgerton, Wis./Edgerton) took the loss on the mound allowing two earned runs on six hits in five innings of work. Tyler Trifiletti (Woodbury, Minn./Woodbury) pitched a perfect sixth inning with two strikeouts.
| Score by Innings | - Game 2 - | R | H | E | |||||||||
| Spartans | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | - | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| Westminster | 0 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | - | 5 | 8 | 1 |
| Win: Hughes (1-0) Loss: Miller (0-1) | |||||||||||||
| BOX SCORE | |||||||||||||
The young Spartans did plenty of damage at the plate as all five UD hits were from freshman. The highlight of the game came in the seventh inning when Austin McWhite (Orlando, Fla./Wekiva) and Michael Salazar (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain) hit back-to-back home runs.
UD once again threatened in the top of the eighth with a lead-off triple from Casanova. After two strikeouts, Vince Parisi (Tinley Park, Ill./Andrew) was hit by a pitch to set-up a first and third situation with two outs. A Spartan groundout ended the inning with no UD runs.
Harley Miller (Oak Lawn, Ill./Richards) was the losing pitcher in his first career start. Miller struckout five in three innings of work.
UP NEXT: The Spartans return to the ball field on Monday, March 10th against Elmhurst College. The Spartans and Blue Jays will play on Lenz Field, a full turf field, in Jacksonville, Ill. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 pm.
Follow all UD Athletics on Twitter at: @UDubuqueSports
