Hillsboro, Kan. – The McPherson College baseball team wrapped up their three game series with Tabor College on Tuesday on the Bluejays home turf. The two previous games were split, with each team winning on the others' home field. Neither of the first two games made it to the ninth inning, both ending in the seventh inning via the run rule.
The Bulldog went back to Hillsboro for game three, looking to pick up a game on the Bluejays, who were two games up on them in the KCAC standings. They got off to a hot start, scoring a pair of runs in their first at bat. The Bluejays got one of those runs back in their half of the first, and then tied the game at 2 on a solo homerun in the bottom of the fourth.
A half inning later, the Bulldogs broke the game open scoring six runs, and knocking the Bluejay starting pitcher out of the game. They added two runs in the sixth to extend their lead to 10-2, but the Bluejays got one of those runs back in the bottom of the inning. In the top of the seventh, the Bulldogs slammed the door and left no doubt, putting up five more runs and extending their lead to 15-3. The Bluejays were unable to rally in the bottom of the seventh, and the game ended via the run rule, which is a ten run lead after 7 innings of play.
The Bulldogs used all of their normal conference starting pitchers in last weekend's series with Southwestern, so they turned to one of their relievers, Drake Miller and handed him the ball for his first start of the season. Miller was masterful, allowing just two runs on six hits in five innings of work. He struck out seven and walked none in route to the win. Jacob Gilcrease came out of the bullpen to pitch the sixth and seventh innings. He gave up just one run on one hit with one strikeout.
Offensively, the Bulldogs pounded out 15 runs on 16 hits, including six that went for extra bases. Eight Bulldogs found their way into the box score with a hit, and six of them recorded multiple hits on the day. Jake Pearson and Trevor Johnson led the attack, both going 3 for 5. Johnson had a pair of doubles and a single, and Pearson a pair of singles and a homerun.
The highlight of the day came in the seventh inning. In his final at bat of the day, Kyle Lux sent a no doubt shot over the left field fence, his 11th of the season. More importantly, it was the 30th in a Bulldog uniform, giving him the all-time MC record for homeruns in a career.
Coach Moses commented on the win saying, "This was a crazy series between two good teams. Drake Miller was a massive part of this win along with some new contributors."
The win puts the Bulldogs a 28-7 overall, and 16-7 in KCAC play. They still find themselves in fourth place in the KCAC standings, a game behind Tabor in the loss column. They will be back in action on Friday and Saturday, when they travel down to Wichita for a three game series with the Friends University Falcons.
