The Beta Gamma Delta Patriots defeated the Alpha Theta Pi Razorbacks in the men’s intramural softball championship on Monday night.
The Patriots dominated both games in the best-of-three series.
The Patriots won 17-9 in the first game and 20-9 in the second game, giving Beta the 2016 championship.
Mike Meroff started the game with a triple for Beta, and Kirtis Yurchak hit a sacrifice fly to bring him in.
In the bottom of the inning, Alpha countered as Justin Matthews singled to bring in a pair of runs for the Razorbacks.
The second inning went quickly offensively for the Razorbacks as they were held by the Patriots’ defense.
Beta’s Bobby Bishop tripled to bring in Marshall Riddle for an RBI. The Patriots led 9-7 at the end of the inning.
In the fourth, Alphas’ Stephen Bruce hit a homer to bring in two runs.
Beta’s Cooper George knocked in another run for the Patriots.
Yurchak later crushed a three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth inning, and Beta took the first game with a score of 17-9.
As the second game began, the Razorbacks needed to win to even the series, but were met with an aggressive Patriots’ defense and even more aggressive offense.
Alpha’s Jadan Kashi hit a two-run homer to give them some confidence.
But Beta quickly retaliated as Riddle doubled, Yurchak doubled and Bishop tripled.
The teams battled back and forth, but at the end of the fourth inning, Beta had built a 14-7 lead.
Beta’s Meroff recorded a defensive gem, as he dove for a ball and got the out at second base. Riddle hit a long walk-off home run—ending the game by mercy rule.
The final score for the second game was 20-9.
“We got more mature in the way we handled ourselves as the season went on, and it paid off in the end,” Beta coach Mike Meroff said. “We had a bit of a rough time fielding, but we came out and got some pop flies.”
Maybe Beta didn’t always play great, but they came together when it mattered most—earning them the championship.