The Warriors baseball team opened up their OUA play on the road against Guelph, falling ina tight opening game by a score of 9-8 and then 6-0 in the second.

Guelph 9, Waterloo 8

In Game 1, the Warriors got off to an early lead, scoring a pair in the first half-inning; a Chris Iltshishin groundout and a Mackenzie Strong (Mississauga/) single cashed in the runs. The middle of the line-up showed glimpses of what was later to come. 

Starting for the Warriors was RHP Luis Grisanti (Maturin/), and against a strong offensive Guelph club, he limited the damage early on. He allowed just two unearned runs in his first innings of work. 

Knotted up in the third inning, the Warriors  jumped back ahead 3-2 as Strong picked up another RBI; grounding out to first-base, scoring Stephen Whalen (Heidelberg/) who doubled previously. 

The score stayed the same until the fifth inning when Guelph's bats came alive; cashing in three runs to take a 5-3 lead. 

Grisanti was done after five innings, and put together a good performance; he provided much needed length and was no easy task for the opposing hitters all game long. 

A few innings later, Iltshishin, a power-hitting first-baseman came up huge in the seventh; taking a 3-2 fastball and hitting a no-doubter to left-centre for the club's first long ball of the season, making it 5-4. An inning later, Iltshishin wasn't done; this time it was a go-ahead two-run shot to give the Warriors a 6-5 lead.

Guelph would come back with four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning, but It wasn't over yet. With a runner on first and one out, third-baseman Whalen stepped up to the plate and put the Warriors within one with a drive to right-field that just snuck over the wall. 

Guelph would hold their lead and take game 1 by a score of 9-8 in what was a thriller to start the season.

Guelph 6, Waterloo 0

Game 2 featured strong pitching performances on both ends. Rookie LHP Jake Roberts (Scarborough) went 4.1 innings allowing four runs but striking out six batters. He located his fastball and used his curveball effectively throughout his outing. 

Also making his debut for Waterloo in this showing was RHP Crawford Passy (Kitchener). Passy pounded the zone with his three offerings and was solid in 1.1 innings to finish off the game. 

The Warriors offence had a tough time starting a rally against RHP Dylan Clark, as he went the distance allowing just three hits and striking out eight. Guelph took the second game by a score of 6-0.

It was an encouraging day of quality, high-intensity baseball. The Warriors look to even up their season record against Laurentian on Sunday.