York, Neb. – After a disappointing loss at home on Tuesday to the Tabor College Bluejays, the McPherson College Baseball team went on the road this weekend and bounced back with a three game sweep of the York College Panthers.
The Bulldogs opened the series on Friday with an 8-4 win, then followed that up by winning games two and three on Saturday 7-3, and 16-10.
Alex Escobar and Robbie Schmidt led the Bulldogs from the mound with Escobar getting the start, and picking up his eighth win of the season. He gave the Bulldogs eight strong innings allowing four runs on ten hits with three strikeouts and no walks. Schmidt came in in the ninth and mopped things up, holding the Panthers scoreless on just one hit.
The Bulldog offense in game one, plated eight runs on 14 hits, led by multi-hit performances from Gage Ninness, 2 for 4 with two runs scored, Kevinn Castillo, 2 for 5 with an RBI, Tony Hyrnkiw, 2 for 5 with an RBI, and Trevor Johnson, 3 for 5 with an RBI and two runs scored. The big hit for the Bulldogs was a solo homerun by Noah Nelson.
The Bulldogs kept things rolling as the teams took the field for Saturday's doubleheader. The offense scored seven runs on 12 hits led by Ninness, Castillo, Hyrnkiw, Hayden Foster, and Caleb Feuerstake who all had two hits apiece. Castillo had the big bat for the Bulldogs in game two, his two hits were a double and a solo homerun.
Blake Maddock, Nathan Ruble, and Justin Lockey were the pitchers deployed against the Panthers in game two. Maddock got the start, and picked up the win. He worked the first six innings scattering five hits and allowing just two runs. Ruble pitched a scoreless seventh inning with two strikeouts, and Lockey worked the eighth and ninth innings giving up one run on two hits with four strikeouts.
In the series finale, the Bulldog bats stayed hot, to the tune of 16 runs on 12 hits including three extra-base hits, two doubles and a homerun. Eight different Bulldogs recorded a hit, and four had multiple hits including Johnson, Hyrnkiw, Foster, and Jake Pearson. Castillo, and Hyrnkiw had the doubles, and Johson hit a two run homerun.
Six Bulldog pitchers saw action in game three, starting with Isaiah Vasquez who picked up the win and improved his record to 3-0 on the year. He worked the first three and two-thirds innings allowing five runs on four hits. Noah Carpenter, Jace Mapston, Broc Selstrom, Rolando Fletes, and Drake Miller came out of the pen working the final three and a third. They combined to give up the other five runs on five hits.
It wasn't a very clean series defensively for the Bulldogs, in the three games, the Bulldogs fielders committed seven errors, but the offense more than made up for the mistakes.
"Overall a good weekend for us," said Bulldog head coach Kyle MacKinnon. "Our offense was able to manage tough hitting conditions and put up runs all weekend. Our pitching was solid except for an inning or two. Any sweep in the KCAC is valuable and going on the road and getting it done is a huge testament to this group."
The sweep gives the Bulldogs a 32-9 record overall, and a 21-5 mark in the KCAC. This is the fourth season (excluding the 2020 season that was shortened by COVID) in a row that the Bulldogs have reached the 30 win plateau.
Next up for the Bulldogs is the midweek series finale with Sterling College. The Bulldogs have won the first two games of the series and will look to sweep the Warriors on Tuesday in Sterling, Kansas.
