TUCSON, Ariz. – The Lancers erased a five-run deficit to beat South Dakota State 9-5 on Friday, marking a milestone victory for Grace coach Bill Barr.
 
With the win, Barr reached his 300th career coaching victory. Barr, in his 16th year coaching at the collegiate level, reflected on the milestone: "I have been lucky to coach high-quality teams and individuals over my career. To get 300 wins is a reflection of the great schools and programs I've had the privilege to coach."
 
Strong pitching performances from CJ Swartz and Aaron Christenberry were crucial in the Lancers' success on Friday. Grace played a clean defensive game with zero walks and zero errors on the day.
 
"It was a team win today. Our pitchers competed and kept us in the game for our offense," Barr said. "We had an errorless game, which is going to be key for us this season. Our guys made plays today to get us a big win against a solid team."
 
Grace struck first with a run in the first inning, but South Dakota would respond with five unanswered runs. Trailing 5-1 entering the fifth inning, the Lancers (5-3) responded in the inning with 5 runs of their own. Grace would add three more tallies as insurance in the eighth inning to put the Trojans away.
 
Frank Rocchio went 3-for-4 at the plate with 2 RBIs, and Logan Grigsby went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Freshman Colton Ferrand came up clutch with a two-run triple off of the right field wall in the eighth inning.
 
Swartz earned his first collegiate win on the mound, and Christenberry was credited with his first collegiate save after tossing four shutout innings of relief.
 
The Lancers face off in a double header against Concordia University (Neb.) on Saturday.
 

Bill Barr. 300 career coaching wins. Legend WeAreGC

A photo posted by Grace Lancers (@gclancers) on Mar 6, 2015 at 2:15pm PST