The Saints let up one run early, but responded quickly in the second. With the bases loaded, Kyson Donahue (Hawaii) sent a two-run single through the right side of the infield to bring Cooper Harris (Wichita) and Jordan Rogers (Wichita) around to score.

“[I was] just trying to do whatever for my teammates,” Donahue said. “Next man up mentality at the plate today.”

The Saints exploded for three more runs in the top of the fourth. Jordan Rogers brought Jacob Sanchez (UTRGV) around for the first run of the inning, working an RBI walk. Mr. Saint Drew Cowley (Oregon) then brought Max Blessinger (Pasadena CC) and Cooper Harris with a two-run single to cap off the inning.

“It sucks to lose obviously, but felt good to be able to able to bring in a few runs today,” Cowley stated.

The Barons kept the game within two, bringing two runs of their own across the plate in the bottom half of the inning.

The Barons kept scoring in the fifth inning, closing the gap with a pair of runs to tie the game going into the back half of the contest.

Entering the game in the sixth, Donny Smith (Vanguard) kept the score where it was while not letting up a hit.

The Barons took the lead for the first time in five innings, bringing around the go-ahead run in the bottom of the seventh.

Jake Porter (BYU) came in for another clutch performance in the bottom of the eight. He struck one out and kept the Saints within striking distance, however Arroyo Seco was not able to send it to extras.

Donahue spoke to the feelings around the dugout after the game. “Pretty disappointing on ourselves,” he stated. “Props to the them on good pitching, but just kind of unfortunate that it fell this way.”

Cowley is focusing on moving on and looking toward the next game. “Just bounce back, and still have fun and play relaxed on Sunday,” he said.

Coach Sergio Plasencia spoke about the unfortunate nature of the loss on Friday night. “I thought it was a good game … just a couple breaks that didn’t fall our way, a couple of hard-hit balls that could’ve gone through that didn’t.”

Plasencia is proud of the way that the team played. “You get a pretty good start out of Keegan. Pitchers were able to limit their damage, keep it within striking distance,” he said. “It’s been always down to the last pitch where we’re either in it or we’re not. We get that situation again I’ll take it every time with the guys that were up and the guys that were on base.”

The Saints’ coach’s final word was about the general nature of collegiate summer ball. “You look at the summer and you go into it … the whole idea behind the summer is to find a place to develop and grow a little bit,” he said. “We have one more game to keep doing that, it’s been good to see them develop along the way and learn some new things.”

The Saints will play the final game of the season on Sunday, July 31 at 1:00 pm PST against the San Luis Obispo Blues at Sinsheimer Park in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Follow along with the game on the Saints’ Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook, or tune in to the livestream on the Arroyo Seco Broadcast Network on YouTube.

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