McPHERSON, Kan. (macbulldogs.com) ---
Josh Lewis (Loveland, Colo., Thompson Valley HS) tossed a nine-inning complete game and
Mark Strebin (Westville, Ill., Danville Area CC) had three hits, including a home run, to lead the McPherson College baseball team to a 6-2 victory over the University of Saint Mary in the opener of their Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) weekend series Saturday afternoon at Bulldog Park.
The Bulldogs (27-16, 6-13 KCAC) jumped on USM starter Matt Weis early, as the first three batters of the game singled to load the bases. The Spires (13-18, 9-13 KCAC) got the first out of the inning when they opted to throw home to force out the lead runner on an
Evan Willow (Victoria, B.C., Canada, Lambrick Park HS) ground ball to short.
Brevin Baessler (Tempe, Ariz., Western Nebraska CC) followed with a groundout to first base that allowed
Dominick Ramos (Fresno, Calif., Hartnell College) to score the game's first run.
Saint Mary countered with a run in the second as Sam Miller scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Mark Lewis after reaching on a one-out double. The Spires would threaten again in the third but ended up stranding a pair of runners.
McPherson moved back in front in the bottom half of the frame as
Trevor Haycock (New Iberia, La., New Iberia Sr. HS) knocked a leadoff triple to the wall in right field, then scored on a Willow groundout. After stranding a pair of runners in fourth, the Bulldogs added single tallies in each of the next four innings to push the lead to 6-1. Willow doubled in
Lane Fleming (Council Grove, Kan., Council Grove HS) in the fifth, Strebin led off the sixth with a solo shot to left, pinch-runner
Hunter Dreiling (Goddard, Kan., Eisenhower HS) scored on a Strebin RBI single to right in the seventh and
Jakob Shields (DeSoto, Kan., DeSoto HS) came in when Fleming reached on fielder's choice in the eighth.
Lewis kept the Spires off balance, allowing just a single and a walk from the fourth through the eighth innings.
Saint Mary was able to manufacture a run in the ninth, however. Daunte Freeman doubled to deep center to lead off the frame, then came around to score on a pair of groundouts before pinch-hitter David Ramirez flew out to Dreiling in left-center to end the game.
Lewis scattered two runs on six hits and two walks while striking out three to get the complete-game win.
"That was probably the highlight performance of Lewis' career to this point," said head coach
Bryan Moses.
Strebin had three hits and two RBIs to lead McPherson offensively. Haycock and Fleming each added two hits, while Willow drove in a pair.
"We weren't going to win the long ball today, so we played a lot of situational baseball," added Moses. "I thought situational at-bats were really good. We moved batters when we needed to -- runners on third with less than two out scored, for the most part, and we were able to lay some bunts down. Our execution was pretty good."
Weis took the loss, allowing five runs on 10 hits and three walks in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out four.
"It was a really clean game. We had two starting pitchers who really knew what they were doing. They were always ahead in the count, throwing multiple pitches for strikes, and the pace of the game was really a credit to [Lewis and Weis]."
Andrew Berry had two hits and an RBI to lead the Spires.
The Bulldogs stranded 10 in the game, but that was not a significant concern for Moses in the game.
"In a lot of instances we left batters on, the at-bat was pretty good -- we hit the ball hard at people or were able to go deep into counts."
The teams complete the three-game series with a doubleheader Sunday afternoon at Bulldog Park. First pitch for game one is tentatively scheduled for noon.
