LINDSBORG, Kan. — After falling victim to late game heroics to force a rubber match in game one, the Bulldogs bounced back and secured the win in game two and secured a series win over the Bethany College Swedes on Saturday (Mar. 22).
GAME ONE- Bethany-7 McPherson-6
Ky'rell Taylor started off the scoring in game one of the doubleheader in the top half of the second inning as he ripped a ball down the left field line to bring in
Koen Gakstatter to score the run. Taylor was able to capitalize on a miscue by the Swedes and scored a run himself to make it a 2-0 MC lead.
Colt Sussex-Uphold opened the floodgates in the top half of the fourth as he launched a ball over the left field wall for a grand slam to make it a 6-0 lead for the Bulldogs as they looked to continue riding the waves of their victory on Friday.
Bethany was far from done giving the Bulldogs a fight as they were able to rattle off four runs across the bottom half of the fourth and fifth innings to make it a 6-4 game and shift the momentum of the contest. Things continued to get tighter and tighter as a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth made it a 6-5 game heading into the game's final frames.
The bullpen of the Bulldogs held strong in the seventh and eighth innings as
Campbell Lyons and
Kadin Gehring kept the Swedes off the board heading into the final inning of play to set up a save opportunity for
Zach Foote. The Swedes were able to load the bases with two outs in the inning and were down to their final strike of the contest, but a two run RBI single completed the 7-6 comeback and forced a rubber match in game three of the series.
GAME TWO- McPherson-7 Bethany-2
The story of the early portion of game two was how well the Bulldogs were able to capitalize off the mistakes made by the Swedes as the first four runs of the contest, all scored by MC, didn't require a base hit to score them. A balk by the Bethany pitcher in the first inning brought in
Jared Kramp while a bases loaded walk of Sussex-Uphold in the second inning brought home Taylor followed up by fielder's choice made it a 3-0 lead for MC.
Taylor worked a bases loaded walk in the third to secure a 4-0 lead for MC, but the Swedes once again were not done fighting as an RBI single down the right field line in the bottom of the fourth scored two runs and sparked ideas of another big comeback win.
Levi Betts had other plans when his name was called into action out of the bullpen. The senior completely shut down the Bethany offense, only surrendering one hit while recording four strikeouts in just two innings of work. The offense for MC was able to bring in three more runs across the sixth and seventh innings thanks to an RBI double from
Dawson Walters and RBI singles from Taylor and
Adan Soto.
Francisco Paradis took the mound in the bottom half of the seventh and stomped out any hope of a repeat from the day's first game as the Bulldogs secured a 7-2 win and the series victory.
The Bulldogs remain on the road as they travel to Ottawa to take on the nationally ranked Braves on Tuesday, March 25 for a single game battle. First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m.
