WICHITA FALLS, Texas — A successful start to KCAC play is just what the doctor prescribed to the Bulldogs as they were able to secure a pair of ranked wins over the Tabor College Bluejays on Friday (Feb. 14), but dropped the third and final game of the series on Saturday (Feb. 15).
GAME ONE- No. 22 Tabor-12 McPherson-14
It did not take long at all for the Bluejays to flex their muscles and show exactly why they're a nationally ranked ball club. In the top of the second inning, a two run single and a huge three run homerun gave Tabor a rapidly quick 5-0 lead. A multi-run deficit might've phased another team, but the Bulldogs were not one of them. In the bottom of the third inning, the MC bats flipped the game over on its head as a three run homerun by
Colt Sussex-Uphold, a solo homerun by
Peyton Starr, and another three run homerun by
Luke Nordean made it a 9-5 MC lead.
It continued to be a rough day to be a pitcher as both the Bluejays and the Bulldogs continued to score runs off the long ball. Every run scored by either Tabor or MC from the fifth inning to the eighth inning came courtesy of the homerun. Another solo homerun by Starr in the bottom of the sixth made it a 13-6 lead for MC and looked to put the game out of reach, but a Tabor two run homerun and grand slam in the top of the seventh made it a one run contest. The momentum was quickly taken back by MC as another Sussex-Uphold homerun made it a 14-12 game and that was enough to give the Bulldogs a victory.
GAME TWO- No.22 Tabor-7 McPherson-10
Unlike game one, it was the Bulldogs who struck first as
Peyton Starr secured an RBI double in the bottom of the first to make it a 1-0 game. The pitching duo of
Jameson Caro and
Matthew Vigil had command of the contest throughout the first three innings of the contest, but the Tabor offense wouldn't be kept down for long as a two run single and a two run homerun in the top of the fourth inning gave the Bluejays a 3-1 lead. Much like game one, every run scored by either side from this point forward we scored from homeruns.
Dawson Walters and
Marcus Patton got it started in the bottom of the fourth as both launched two run homeruns, followed up by
Jace Essig launching a three run homerun to make it a 8-3 lead for MC. A three run homerun by Tabor in the top of the fifth made it 8-6, but a
Jared Kramp two run shot made it 10-6. The Bluejays did hit one last solo homerun in the sixth to make it 10-7, but that was all the damage they were able to do as the Bulldogs secured a 2-0 start to conference play.
GAME THREE- No.22 Tabor-18 McPherson-8
It was another great start to the day for MC as after a solo homerun from Tabor in the top of the first to make it 1-0,
Colt Sussex-Uphold gave the Bulldogs a 2-1 lead in the bottom half of the first off of a two run homerun.
Marcus Patton launched another two run shot for MC in the bottom half of the second inning and Sussex-Uphold continued to rip it up as he launched another homerun to make it 5-1 after three innings.
Tabor began to take over the contest in the top of the fourth as a three run triple and a trio of RBI singles, one of which scoring two runs, made it a 8-5 game in favor of the Bluejays.
Peyton Starr sent a solo homerun out in the bottom of the fifth to make it 8-6, but the Tabor offense erupted for seven unanswered runs to blow the gates open. With the score now 14-6,
Luke Nordean hit a two run homerun to cut into the lead, but four more runs for Tabor in the top of the eighth and nineth innings put the contest out of reach.
The Bulldogs will return to action on Friday, February 21 as they start a three game series against the Valor of Evangel University. First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m.
