LEAVENWORTH, Kan. — For the first time in conference play, the Bulldogs dropped a regular season series as they fell to the Saint Mary Spires in the rubber match of a three game series on Sunday (Mar. 2), 10-1.
Unlike the first pair of games in the series that saw Saint Mary get on the board first, the Bulldogs were the team to strike first as a sacrifice fly by
Luke Nordean into left field brought home
Marcus Patton and gave MC the early 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning. Saint Mary didn't need long to answer back as an RBI double in the bottom half of the second inning tied the game right back up.
Things began to unravel for the Bulldogs in the fourth inning as an RBI single gave the Spires a 2-1 lead. The lead would quickly be expanded an RBI double cleared the loaded up bases to score three runs and give Saint Mary a 5-1 advantage. The Bulldogs were able to get guys on base, but in a similar fashion to the first game of the series, they could not bring them in as MC left 10 runners on base in the contest. The bottom half of the fifth inning saw the Spires really put the hammer down as an RBI single scored two more runs and another bases clearing RBI double ballooned the lead to 10-1.
Saint Mary was kept off the scoreboard after the fifth frame thanks to strong showings from
Chris Jackson and
Brayden Noland out of the bullpen. The duo only gave up a combined two hits and only surrendered one walk, but the bats remained cold against the really strong pitching of the Spires as the Bulldogs were kept off the scoreboard after their lone run scored in the first inning.
The Bulldogs will finally bring the action to Bulldog Park on Wednesday, March 5 as they play host to cross town foe Central Christian College as the battle for the McPherson Colligate Cup comes to the diamond. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.
