Phoenix, AZ- A day that started out beautiful but turned into lightning in the sky and on the field saw Arizona Christian split with Bethesda- falling 11-5 before winning 3-2- to close out their season on Saturday.  Junior Hector Ortiz homered to create a tie in the second game.

A pair of unearned runs opened game one with a 1-1 tie after an inning.

The Flames (29-24) scored one in the second before the Firestorm (14-25) answered with two in the third to briefly take a 3-2 lead.  Junior Zach Vogel singled and advanced to second on a failed pick off.  Freshman Trent Troncone singled home Vogel.  Sophomore Michael Dunnebecke doubled home Troncone.

But Bethesda cashed in five runs- four unearned- in the fourth to grab the lead for the rest of the first contest.

Senior Joshua Garcia (1-2) took the loss after being charged with seven runs though only two were earned against him.

Upon retiring BUC in order to begin the second game, Senior Christopher Burks doubled to center on the first pitch of the bottom of the first.  Junior Jake Howard cashed in Burks with a sacrifice fly to center for the early 1-0 edge.

In the second, the Flames used a double and single combo to tie the score at 1-1.  One inning later, Bethesda grabbed a 2-1 lead with a single, stolen base, and single sequence.

Senior Tatum Hendrix (5-5) closed the scoring door from there.  He went six innings with seven strikeouts to keep ACU in the game and eventually put himself in line for the win.

After leaving just one base runner and seeing eight in a row retired in the second through fifth innings, the Firestorm were still just down 2-1 headed into the bottom of the sixth.  With rain and lightning closing in on Firestorm Field, the teams were facing the need to get the game decided.  With one out, Ortiz caught lightning in a bottle as he belted his third home run of the season over the left center field fence to forge a 2-2 tie.  Senior Tate Erickson walked behind the homer and Troncone came into run for Erickson.  Senior Jake Wakamatsu singled to left to move Troncone into scoring position.  Junior Jose Pereyda bounced a single off the body of Bethesda starter Frankie Wright and on into center field to score Troncone and move ACU ahead 3-2.

Sophomore Wade Mason came in for the save with rain starting to fall and strong winds blowing straight in toward home plate.  After a strikeout, Mason allowed a single and threw a wild pick-off attempt to put the tying run in scoring position.  But Mason bore down and induced a fly out and popup to end the game.

As the final out was recorded, the rain really starting coming down and the lightning was within a few miles of the field.

Assistant Coach Mike Lusardi commented, "Tremendous way to end the season- winning five out of seven.  Congratulations to our seniors- a lot of hard work, perseverance, and we are praying for them the rest of the way."

The Firestorm close out their season winners of two series in a row.