STOCKTON, Calif. – The
Reed Peters era started with a bang as senior
DJ Scott launched a walk-off home run to power the Pacific baseball program to a season-opening 2-1 win over UC San Diego Friday at Klein Family Field
Behind strong pitching and Scott's late-game heroics, the Tigers (1-0) took down the Tritons (0-1), marking the first victory for Peters as the Pacific skipper.
"That game was definitely dramatic," Peters said. "DJ came up big for us and he gets a walk-off, which was great. Our pitching battled and showed a lot of grit behind great defense."
The Tigers saw several new faces in their opening day lineup, highlighted by the combined pitching efforts of redshirt junior
Logan Drummond and senior
Adan Perez (1-0). The duo allowed just one earned run on the night, striking out seven batters in the process to work their way out of jams. Drummond made his first career start as a Tiger, going 4.2 innings in his season debut.
UC San Diego opened the game's scoring in the top of the first inning via a wild pitch to take an early 1-0 lead.
Pacific's offense responded in the bottom of the third inning. Following a lead-off single from sophomore
Robert Orr and a couple advancements, freshman
Diego Davis delivered a two-out single to right field to level the game up at 1-1. For the Stockton native, it was his first collegiate hit and RBI to give the Tigers a spark at the plate.
The Tigers and Tritons traded opportunities, but the pitching and defense prevailed through the middle and late stages of the ball game.
With one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, Scott, who entered the game as a defensive substitution, swung at the first pitch he saw and crushed the walk-off round-tripper over the left field wall for the first Pacific home run of the season. The last Tiger to hit a walk-off home run came against LMU on April 20, courtesy of
Tony Otis.
With the walk-off victory, the Tigers extended their home-opening winning streak to eight games, dating back to the 2017 season.
The Tigers and Tritons will face off in game two of the series tomorrow with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. at Klein Family Field.
Tigers Tickets
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PacificTigers.com tickets tab, or by calling the Box Office at 209-946-2474. Groups of 10 or more are eligible for a group discount and exclusive fan experiences.
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