Baseball | 4/7/2012 9:57:00 PM
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McPherson, Kan. – McPherson College baseball had their four-game series against Saint Mary this week, playing at Lawrence-Dumont Stadium in Wichita, Kan., on Thursday and Leavenworth, Kan., Saturday. The Bulldogs were defeated in all four games, losing Thursday 1-7, 4-7 and Saturday 1-2, 0-1.
Thursday, Game One: McPherson 1 – Saint Mary 7
Box Scores
The first game of the series had McPherson on their heels as they were only able to collect one run off of seven hits. Victor Betancourt led the team with his two hits while five others recorded one; Trey DeRouen logged the team’s lone RBI.
Casey McConnell tallied his second complete game of the season, surrendering seven runs, five earned, off of 11 hits. He had two strikeouts, four groundouts and eight fly outs.
Trevor Matifes and Michael Ferracuti each had a pair of hits, leading the way for the Spires. Seven others made positive contact with the ball.
The starting pitcher for Tabor was Cade Brummer, who lasted five innings, allowing zero runs and three hits. Doug Caldwell came in relief to start the sixth inning and closed out the game, giving up one earned run off of four hits.
Thursday, Game Two: McPherson 4 – Saint Mary 7
Box Scores
Saint Mary came out firing in game two, putting up two runs in the opening inning and then scoring one in both the third and fourth. McPherson finally got on track in the fifth, hitting around two courtesy of a DeRouen double. Two more runs were scored in the bottom of the seventh by MC to tie the game at 4-4. In extra innings, USM took advantage of a costly error to score three in the top of the ninth. MC was unable to get any runs in the bottom of the inning, losing another heart-breaker, 4-7.
Five Bulldogs had one hit apiece, highlighted by DeRouen’s double in the fifth.
Taylor Werts pitched the complete nine-inning game. He allowed seven runs, four earned, 17 hits and two walks while striking out one.
17 hits were tallied by the Blue Jays, four of which went to Devin Hupp who was 4-of-5 with three singles and a double. Joe Haak and Matifes each earned three hits with five other Jays grabbed at least one.
Tabor went through five pitchers in their victory over McPherson. Justin Tomek started things off for TC, going four and a third innings before Jon Surratt came in relief. Surratt went one and two thirds before Jake Wolf came in to replace him in the top of the seventh. He was quickly relieved after a third of an inning by Kevin DeVore who finished the seventh. Chris Pena closed out the game for the Blue Jays, earning the victory.
Saturday, Game One: McPherson 1 – Saint Mary 2
Box Score
In a low-scoring affair, a fourth inning homerun by designated hitter Mora tied the game for MC at one apiece but USM quickly rallied to take the lead for good in the bottom of the fifth.
Despite getting one more hit (7) than their season average (6), the Bulldogs were only able to score one run which is well below the 3.7 runs per game average of MC this year. The sole RBI came off of Mora’s fourth inning homerun; Mora finished the game hitting 2-of-3. Leander Green also recorded two hits; three other ‘Dogs had one.
Logan Zike pitched his second complete game of the year, allowing two earned runs coming from eight hits. Zike logged one strikeout and one walk in the 26 batters he faced.
The Spires tallied one more hit than the Bulldogs and one more run. Haak and Matifes each earned two while four others grabbed one hit.
Saint Mary used three pitchers in the first game on Saturday. Chase Hottman got the starting nod and pitched three innings before being relieved by Surratt in the fourth. Surratt stayed in for two and two thirds innings before John Christopher came in got the final out of the game with one pitch.
Saturday, Game Two: McPherson 0 – Saint Mary 1
Box Score
The final game of the series came down to the wire as it was a 0-0 game until the bottom of the seventh inning when USM’s Brummer singled to bring around the lone player to score, Matifes, to win the game.
McPherson struggled from the plate in game two, only logging three hits in their 22 at bats. Shelton, Green and Betancourt were the Bulldogs who made the stat sheet.
Dion Herron pitched another full game for MC, gaining his third CG of the season. He surrendered one earned run off of five hits and two walks. Herron tallied three strikeouts, five groundouts and seven fly outs in the loss.
Saint Mary only put the ball into play five times but it was all that was needed to defeat the Bulldogs. Haak once again led the team with his two hits; four other Spires each had one.
Caldwell recorded the complete game for USM, giving up no runs on three hits.
McPherson baseball gets a much needed break as they are off until the 14th of April when they will host Ottawa University. Their double-header at Light Capital Field in McPherson, Kan., will begin at 1 p.m. (CT)
