Tigers Roar Back to Life
Photo by Mōhai Peloso
Baseball Rallies to Tie Season-Opening Home Series
Baseball is back at Pacific. The Tigers opened their season with a series draw against 2025 Western Athletic Conference champions Utah Valley (UVU), claiming back-to-back wins after dropping the first two games.
A packed house on Friday the 13th saw an opening-day war of attrition, as the pitchers battled through 10 innings with just a single run allowed on both sides. For the Tigers, a fifth-inning single from sophomore Diego Davis was enough to bring junior Braeden Schnabel home, and the home team led until the top of the ninth, where a UVU solo shot would send the game to extra innings. The same batter would homer again, this time in the 11th. However, a runner in scoring position put the game out of reach for the Tigers, as the squad managed just one more run off the bat of fifth-year Brendan O’Sullivan, who brought himself home to end the game at 3-2. Two Pacific pitchers took to the mound for the first time in orange and black, combining with veteran Ethan Shaver for a massive 24 strikeouts on the day.
Saturday morning played out less favorably for the Tigers. An offensive explosion in the opening inning brought six runs home for UVU to Pacific’s one, and the long rally back fell three runs short. O’Sullivan and Grant MacArthur finished with two RBIs each and Connor Raridan closed with a solid performance over 2.2 innings, retiring nine batters in just 41 pitches and not giving up a single run, but the game finished 9-6 in favor of the Wolverines.
The second game of Saturday’s doubleheader began in similar fashion, with UVU jumping out to a 4-0 lead after two innings. A single in the third inning brought another home for the Wolverines, but after pulling one back in the bottom of the third off a fielder’s choice with the bases loaded, the momentum swung in favor of the Tigers. Pacific came out firing on offense in the fifth, scoring off a Noah Canter double and prompting a UVU pitching change. However, after two hits each drove a run home, the new pitcher was pulled after just one out. It wasn’t enough to stop the bleeding, however, and the boys in black and orange kept swinging. After taking the lead in the fifth, Pacific never let up, keeping the bases busy all afternoon and bringing 13 across home plate. With an average of two hits per inning, Pacific’s offense was relentless, taking advantage of a rough outing for UVU’s pitching staff.
Sunday’s series finale proved to be the best game of the series for the crowd in attendance at Klein Family Field. It was a pitchers' duel throughout the first few innings, much like the opening game. UVU knocked one home in the first off a solo homer, and another in the fourth. The Tigers stayed scoreless until the seventh, when a pair of wild pitches with the bases loaded allowed them to capitalize. With two innings left to play, Blaine French and MacArthur walked across home to tie the game at two. While hometown pitcher Carson Revay took care of business on the mound, striking out four of the nine batters he faced to close the game, the Tigers’ offense would continue searching for the final blow. That blow finally came in extra innings, when junior Levi Sotomayor stepped up to the plate. The Pacific debutant, still looking for his first hit in an orange uniform, sent a rocket down the right-field line, driving a run home and walking off victorious for the Tigers, who sent the Wolverines home with an even series.