Photo by Micah Gilbert
McPherson, Kan. – After their four games in Joplin, Missouri were cancelled this weekend, the McPherson College baseball coaches scrambled to find some games to play. They eventually found the Morningside College Mustangs had room on their schedule and were willing to travel to McPherson to play a four game set.
The Bulldogs were looking to bounce back from a 1-3 finish last weekend against Concordia University, and they got off to a solid start against the Mustangs, taking both games of Sunday's double header. The Bulldogs opened with a 5-2 win in the opener, and then followed that up with an 11-6 win in game two.
Game one was tied 2-2 through three and a half innings of play. In the Bulldogs' half of the fourth, they retook the lead with a trio of runs. From there they hung on for the 5-2 victory. Dylan Marble (Sr. Danville, Ill.), got the start and went six and a third. He picked up the win, allowing just two runs on six hits with five K's and a pair of walks. Jarrod Manick (Sr. Aldergrove, B.C.) came out of the pen with one out in the seventh. He earned the save, facing three batters, allowing one hit and recording one strikeout.
At the plate, the Bulldogs scored five runs on ten hits with six of those hits coming from Jonah Shabry (Jr. Boulder Creek, Calif.) and Trevor Johnson (Jr. San Diego, Calif.), who were 3 for 3. Kyle Lux (Sr. Lewes, Del) also had a multi-hit game, going 2 for 3 with a double and an RBI.
In the second game, the Bulldogs led wire to wire. The opened the game with a pair of runs, then led 7-5 at the midway point. The Mustangs made things interesting in the late innings, outscoring the Bulldogs four to one in the fourth and fifth, but the Bulldogs put up three in the bottom of the sixth to give themselves a five run cushion 11-6, which would turn out being the final margin.
The Bulldogs used the pitching by committee approach in game two. Garrett Connor (Sr. Highlands Ranch, Colo.) got the start, and worked the first four innings. He allowed four runs on four hits and finished with five strikeouts. Isaiah Vasquez (Jr. Montebello, Calif.) came out of the pen to pitch the fifth, giving up two runs in the inning on three hits. In the sixth, the Bulldogs went to the pen again and brought in Brett Carter (Sr. Sachse, Texas). Carter struck out the first batter of the inning, but then walked the next two. That prompted Coach Moses to brining in Manick to try and close things out with a five out save. Manick proved up to the task, getting the five outs he needed, four of them coming via the strikeout.
Offensively, Johnson continued to swing the hot bat for the Bulldogs. He went 2 for 3 with two doubles, and a pair of runs batted in. The big hit for the Bulldogs flew off the bat of Lux, a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth.
The win puts the Bulldog record at 7-3. They will be back on the diamond again on Monday for another double header with the Mustangs. First pitch is slated for 12 p.m. at Bulldog Park.
