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Cougars Sweep Cedarville as Veale Tops
700 Wins
written by Dave Parsons, Sports Information Director
Game
1 Boxscore |
Game
2 Boxscore
MOUNT VERNON, Ohio (4-29-2010) - The Mount
Vernon Nazarene University baseball team
posted a much-needed American Mideast
Conference doubleheader sweep of Cedarville
University on Thursday afternoon at Cougar
Field by the scores of 5-2 and 11-10 and in
the process helped head coach Keith Veale
record career win No. 700.
 The
visiting Yellow Jackets (22-23, 6-16 AMC)
did not get a ball out of the infield in the
first inning of game one but still managed
to take a 1-0 lead as two walks and an
infield single loaded the bases before David
Convertini plated a run with a high chopper
to third. However, sophomore right-hander
Kyle Barr (5-4) (left) escaped
further trouble by striking out the next two
batters to end the inning.
The Cougars (25-18, 10-8 AMC) wasted little
time in answering as freshman outfielder
Brian Brockly led off the bottom of the
first inning with his team-leading sixth
triple and came in to knot the score at 1-1
on an RBI single by senior designated hitter
Travis McInerney.
MVNU took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the
second inning when a Cedarville error helped
extend the inning to allow Brockly to hit a
sacrifice fly to score senior third baseman
Matt Parks, who led off the inning with a
walk and worked his way around the bases.
The Cougars returned the favor in the top of
the fourth inning when a throwing error
allowed the tying run to score for the
Yellow Jackets.
Once again, though, MVNU responded right
away as Brockly doubled down the rightfield
line with one out, moved to third on a wild
pitch, and score on a suicide squeeze bunt
by freshman second baseman Jordan Doherty to
give the Cougars a 3-2 lead.
A pair of Cedarville errors in the bottom of
the fifth inning helped MVNU extend the lead
to 5-2 with junior Ricardo Rodriguez
registering the only RBI in the inning with
a two-out pinch hit single.
The Yellow Jackets did not go down without a
fight as they got two runners on with one
out in the top of the seventh inning before
freshman right-hander Darren Athey came on
to induce Andrew York to ground into a
game-ending double play to secure Veale’s
700th win.
“I feel really blessed to have the
opportunity work at Mount Vernon Nazarene
University and coach what has been an
outstanding group of guys over the years,”
said Veale, who has now posted a 701-349
record in 21 years leading the Cougars and
becomes the 19th active NAIA coach to reach
the milestone. “I was blessed to have a
great mentor in Sam Riggleman as my coach at
John Wesley College before he came to MVNU
and started our winning tradition. We have
tried to recruit solid people over the years
and do things the right way. This milestone
is as much a tribute to them as anything.”
Barr picked up the win on the mound as he
allowed just four hits, three walks, and two
runs (one earned) while striking out a
career-high 11 batters over 6.1 innings.
Athey notched his seventh save by getting a
double play out of the only batter he faced.
Offensively, Brockly and sophomore
outfielder Chaz Gibson each had a pair of
hits with Brockly also scoring twice.
The second game started just like the first
game did as Cedarville took an early 1-0
lead in the top of the first inning thanks
to two walks, two hits, and a sacrifice fly.
Fortunately for MVNU, the Cougars were able
to pick a runner off to help them get out of
the inning.
A walk to McInerney and a double by
sophomore first baseman Josh Roberts with
two outs in the bottom of the inning set the
stage for junior outfielder Steve Williams
who gave MVNU a 2-1 lead with a two-run
double down the leftfield line.
Back-to-back doubles by junior designated
player Ian Durbin and Gibson extend the
Cougars’ lead to 3-1 in the bottom of the
second inning and a sacrifice fly by Brockly
made it 4-1.
A throwing error and three walks in the top
of the fourth inning opened the door for the
Yellow Jackets to get back in the game and
York gave Cedarville a 5-4 lead with a
three-run triple to center with two outs.
MVNU answered in the bottom of the fourth
inning with a two-out, two-run single by
Doherty to regain the lead 6-5. Then,
Roberts blasted a long, three-run homer to
deep leftfield to extend the lead to 9-5.
The home run was Roberts’ team-best fifth of
the season.
The Yellow Jackets began to chip away at the
lead over the next three innings as
Cedarville scored twice in the top of the
fifth inning and once in the top of the
sixth inning to pull within 9-8.
The Cougars picked up a big insurance run in
the bottom of the sixth inning when junior
shortstop Michael Hendren reached on a
leadoff single, moved to second on a
sacrifice by Brockly, advanced to third on a
ground out to the right side by Rodriguez,
and came in on an RBI single by McInerney to
make it 10-8.
That run would come back to be huge as the
Yellow Jackets took advantage of another
MVNU error in the top of the seventh inning
to score two unearned runs on a two-out,
two-run double by Tyler Rost to knot the
score at 10-10.
 As
they had done all day, the Cougars responded
in the bottom of the seventh inning as
Durbin reached on a one-out throwing error
and moved to second on a single by Gibson.
Freshman Mike McNutt came in to run for
Durbin and tagged up on a fly out to right
by Hendren. When Cedarville tried to cut
down McNutt going to third, the throw got by
York at third and McNutt was award home on
the error as the ball went in the deadball
area around the dugout as MVNU celebrated
the 11-10 walk-off win.
Sophomore right-hander Jerrob Decker started
and worked four-plus innings as he allowed
five hits, six walks, and seven runs (three
earned) with five strikeouts. Sophomore
right-hander Jeff Estep tossed two innings
in relief and gave up two hits, one walk,
and one run with three strikeouts. Athey
(4-1) suffered a blown save thanks to the
error, two hits, and two unearned runs in
the top of the seventh inning, but he picked
up the win in the bottom half of the frame
thanks to the Cougars’ offense.
Offensively, Roberts (right)
went 4-for-4 with two doubles, a home run,
three RBI, and two runs scored. Gibson added
a 3-for-4 performance, and Durbin and
Hendren added two hits apiece.
“While it wasn’t always pretty today and I
wish we could have thrown more strikes, when
it is all said and done we picked up two
wins that we needed to have,” said Veale. “I
liked the way that we kept battling back
offensively. We need to continue to do that
down the stretch as we try to make the
conference tournament.”
The two teams will be back in action on
Saturday at Cedarville University with
another AMC twinbill that is slated to start
at 2:00 p.m.
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