Pioneers Fall To Royals on Opening Day

Pioneers Fall To Royals on Opening Day- Wil Teague, Sports Information Director, 2/7/25

Pioneer Baseball opened the 2025 season with a 4 game series against the Royals of Ecclesia College. In today's opening doubleheader, the Royals would emerge on top credited to one critical inning in each contest. 

Game 1

Crowley's Ridge- 2

Ecclesia College- 9

Seneca, MO- In the Pioneers' season opener, CRC amassed 4 hits throughout 7 innings, scoring 2 runs. Senior Matt Parker brought in CRC's first run of the season in the top of the second with the righty hitter pulling a ball just deep enough down the left field foul line for speedy junior and newcomer Clay Burgess to tag up from third, getting the Pioneers on the board with the sac-fly RBI. The Pioneers' second run came 4 innings later when Burgess collected his second base knock of the day, scoring sophomore Rilyn Coleman from third who reached base on an HBP earlier in the inning. Senior Chance Arender got the start for Crowley's Ridge, tossing 5.2 innings, spacing 5 runs off 5 hits, and striking out 2. Arender and the Pioneer defense held the Royals scoreless for the first 5 innings until the hosting team summoned a game-altering inning, pushing 9 runs across the plate in the bottom of the 6th. Burgess was the sole Pioneer to collect 2 hits in the contest going 2-3 with an RBI. 

Game 2

Crowley's Ridge- 4

Ecclesia College- 10

Seneca, MO- In game two, the Pioneers again struck first on the scoreboard, but with the Royals out-hitting the Pioneers, CRC's lead wouldn't stand the test. As a team, the Pioneers mustered a 6-hit game, scoring 4 runs, with 3 of them crossing home in the first two innings. Junior Clay Burgess kept his game-one rhythm as the North Carolinian singled in the top of the first, scoring junior Trey Drake, who led off the game with a single to right field. The following inning, CRC scrapped two more runs across the plate as sophomore Parker Gordon pushed CRC's second run across the finish line with a hard groundout to the second baseman scoring Brylan Honeycutt, and sophomore Rilyn Coleman bringing in Gordon with a single to center field two batters later. CRC's fourth and final run crossed the plate in the 5th, thanks to a hard groundout by Honeycutt, but painfully, the Royals responded in the next frame by tacking on five runs to their already one-run lead, creating cushion in their second win of the day. Freshman LHP Lawson Graff got the start, making his collegiate debut for the Pioneers. Graff tossed 3.2 innings and surrendered 5 runs (4 earned) off 5 hits in the loss. Burgess led the offense, going 2-3, with an RBI and BB.

Up Next: CRC will wrap up their weekend series against Ecclesia College tomorrow. The first pitch is set for 12:00 PM. #GOPIONEERS