WHITTIER, Calif. – Cayden Okada (Freshman/Waipahu, HI) was absolutely electric in his relief outing on Friday afternoon, retiring all 17 batters he faced in his 5.2 innings of work to lift Pacific over Whittier in the series opener.
The Boxers (17-10, 11-7 NWC) dominated the Poets in all facets of the game, jumping out to an early 6-0 lead as Okada kept the bats quiet the rest of the way.
The freshman right-hander came on to pitch in the top of the fourth and earned the win after tossing 5.2 innings of perfect baseball. Okada induced 10 groundballs, dominating the bottom half of the zone. He also collected a career-high six strikeouts on the day.
Pacific blasted three homers on the offensive end.
Tyler Quinn (Junior/Mililani, HI) hit a two-run home run, his third of the year,
Damon Tanner (Sophomore/El Dorado Hills, CA) smacked his fifth homer of the season, and
Jordan Hara (Senior/Aiea, HI) flashed some power with his first bomb of 2022.
How It Happened
Quinn propelled Pacific into the lead with his two-run homer in the top of the first. The Boxers continued to use the long ball to their advantage in the following inning when Tanner and Hara launched a pair of solo shots to make the score 4-0.
Pacific tacked on a couple more runs in the third when Quinn's two-RBI base hit brought
Cole Strober (Senior/Pacific City, OR) and
Max Nealon (Senior/Redmond, WA) around to score.
Matt Komaroski (Sophomore/Jacksonville Beach, FL) was on the bump to start the contest and the left-hander cruised through his first three innings of work, fanning five batters while keeping the Poets off the board.
After Whittier tabbed him for a run in the fourth, he would be relieved by Okada, who punched out back-to-back hitters to get the Boxers out of the jam.
Okada found himself in an incredible groove on the mound, retiring 17 straight batters to finish the game. The freshman didn't allow a single base runner in his 5.2 innings, striking out six Poets along the way.
Isaac Lovings (Senior/Beaverton, OR) added an insurance run in the ninth inning when his sacrifice fly allowed Tanner to come across. Okada closed things out in the last half inning to clinch the win in the series opener.
Up Next
The Boxers continue the series against Whittier with a twin bill starting at 12 p.m. tomorrow afternoon.
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