Photo by Natalia Ahrens
McPherson, Kan. – The McPherson College baseball team was back on the diamond on Saturday, opening a four game series with the Peru State College Bobcats.
The Bulldogs opened the day by taking game one, 6-2 behind a strong pitching performance from Alex Escobar, and four home runs from the offense. Escobar got the start, and moved to 4-0 on the season, working six innings and allowing two runs on seven hits with five strikeouts and zero walks. Nathan Ruble came out of the pen to close out the seventh inning holding the Bobcats scoreless on one hit, and one strikeout.
The Bulldog offense was fueled by Trevor Johnson, who went 3 for 3 with a walk, and a pair of homeruns. He is now just two homeruns shy of the Bulldogs' all-time career homerun mark. Kevinn Castillo was also perfect on the day, going 2 for 2 with a double and a homerun.
The Bulldogs got on the board in the bottom of the first inning when Caleb Feuerstake scored on a wild pitch. Two innings later Johnson hit the first of his two homeruns, a solo shot. The Bobcats tied the game in the top of the fourth, but in the bottom of the fifth, the Bulldogs broke the game open, and retook the lead, with back to back to back homeruns by Johnson, Jake Pearson, and Castillo.
In the second game, the Bulldog offense came alive to the tune of 17 runs on 17 hits. The only negative in the game came on defense where the Bulldogs committed a season high five errors.
Blake Maddock was on the mound for the start in game two. He pitched two innings of scoreless baseball, scattering three hits, and striking out five. He didn't pitch enough innings to factor into the decision, so the win went to Rolando Fletes who came out of the pen allowing one run on three hits in two innings of work.
Offensively, the 11 different Bulldogs recorded a hit. Nine of the 17 Bulldog hits went for extra bases including six doubles, a triple, and two homeruns. The two homeruns came off the bats of Castillo, and Hayden Foster. Johnson continued to swing a hot bat, going 3 for 5 with a double and an RBI. Castillo remained perfect for the day, going 3 for 3 with a homerun and two RBI. Foster, Feuerstake, and Tony Hyrnkiw also recorded multiple hits for the Bulldogs.
With the wins, the Bulldogs move to 8-4 overall. They will be back in action on Sunday in another doubleheader with the Bobcats, starting at 12:00 pm.
