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Cougars Split MCC Doubleheader with Indiana Wesleyan
written by Dave Parsons, Sports Information Director
Game
1 Boxscore |
Game
2 Boxscore
MOUNT VERNON, Ohio (4-19-2012) - The Mount
Vernon Nazarene University baseball team
split a Mid-Central College Conference
doubleheader with Indiana Wesleyan
University on Thursday afternoon at Cougar
Field as the visiting Wildcats won the first
game 2-1 before MVNU cruised to a 17-3
victory in the nightcap.
Indiana
Wesleyan (19-28, 11-17 MCC) got off to a
quick start in the first game as Jacob
Murphy led off the game with a single, moved
to third on a one-out double by Alex Ridlen,
and came around to score on a sacrifice fly
by Craig Dollens to put the Wildcats on top
1-0.
At that point, the game turned
into a pitchers' duel between Indiana
Wesleyan's Bryan Beachy (4-4) and the
Cougars' senior right-hander Kyle Barr
(6-2). After the Ridlen double in the first
inning, Barr retired the next 17 batters in
a row before Ridlen singled to lead off the
top of the seventh inning.
Following
the Ridlen single in the top of the seventh
inning, courtesy runner Trey Shigley
advanced to third on a throwing error by
Barr as he tried to pick him off at first
base. Dollens followed with his second
sacrifice fly of the game to left center to
extend the Wildcats' lead to 2-0.
The
insurance run proved to be important in the
bottom of the seventh inning when freshman
outfielder Jake Dickerson led off the frame
with a triple down the rightfield line.
After junior shortstop Jordan Doherty walked
to put runners at the corners, Dickerson
scored on a fielder's choice ground ball by
freshman second baseman Sterling Harpst to
pull MVNU within 2-1.
One out later,
an error and an infield single loaded the
bases for the Cougars as they tried to pull
even or post a walk-off win. However, senior
first baseman Josh Roberts grounded to third
to end the game as MVNU fell 2-1.
Barr took the loss despite allowing just
three hits and one earned run over seven
innings with five strikeouts and no walks.
Meanwhile, Beachy earned the win as he
scattered eight hits, one walk, and one run
over seven innings with four strikeouts.
Kane paced the Cougars' offense by going
2-for-3, while Ridlen collected two of the
Wildcats' three hits and Dollens drove in
both runs.
"What a well-pitched
ballgame," said MVNU coach Keith Veale.
"Unfortunately, it came down to one miscue
on our part that opened up the door for the
winning run to score. The guys put a great
rally together in the bottom of the seventh,
but it just wasn't enough. Those are the
games you want to be able to win...when
everything counts and there is no room for
error."
What the first game lacked in
offense, the second game more than made up
for. The Cougars jumped out to a 1-0 lead in
the bottom of the first inning as Dickerson
plated the run with a two-out single up the
middle.
After the Wildcats took a 2-1
lead with a pair of unearned runs in the top
of the second inning, MVNU responded with
nine runs in the bottom of the third inning
as the Cougars sent 14 batters to the plate
in taking a 10-2 lead. Sophomore designated
hitter Seth Eller had two RBI singles in the
inning, while Roberts, freshman catcher
Clint Spencer, and sophomore outfielder
Robert Kane all three had run-scoring
singles and Harpst and freshman
infielder/outfielder Kenny McCambridge both
added a sacrifice fly each.
Indiana
Wesleyan got one of the runs back in the top
of the fifth inning, but MVNU tacked on
three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning
on RBI singles by Dickerson and Harpst and a
wild pitch to increase the lead to 13-3.
Then, the Cougars closed out the scoring
with four more runs in the bottom of the
sixth inning to make it 17-3 as Eller and
Dickerson added RBI singles, Kane hit a
sacrifice fly, and another run scored on a
wild pitch.
Junior lefty Justin Brown
(6-3) earned the win for MVNU as he allowed
just seven hits, three walks, and three runs
(only one earned) over six innings with two
strikeouts. Senior right-hander Jeff Estep
tossed the final inning and allowed one hit.
Shane Bryant (2-6), the first of four
pitchers for the Wildcats, took the loss as
he gave up seven hits, two walks, and eight
runs over the first 2.1 innings with three
strikeouts. Justin Sovine allowed eight
hits, two walks, and five runs over 2.2
innings with one strikeout, while Jacob
Worrell surrendered two hits, two walks, and
four runs while recording just one out.
Ethan Daggett recorded the final two outs
and gave up just one hit.
Eller and
Dickerson paced the Cougars with four hits
and three RBI apiece as MVNU pounded out 18
total hits. Kane, Roberts, Doherty, and
Spencer also added two hits each. Ridlen and
Seth White led Indiana Wesleyan with two
hits apiece.
"Our backs were really
against the wall going into this one," said
Veale. "We had lost three tight games to
start the series and we were desperate to
get back on track. Justin kept us in the
game through the first three innings on the
mound and finally the offense came alive in
the third inning. It was the first time all
series that we strung some things together.
After that, we were able to relax at the
plate and we continued to move the ball
hard."
"This was a very disappointing
series for us," Veale added. "If you total
the numbers on the series all together, I
think one would assume we won the series. To
(Indiana Wesleyan's) credit, they made plays
and pitches at critical times during the
series and came away winning three of the
four games. I thought their pitching kept us
off balance for most of the series, and we
made a couple simple mistakes that cost us
big time in the end. The positive side of
things is that we are down to our final two
conference series with plenty to play for."
The Cougars will be back in action on
Saturday when MVNU is slated to host the
University of Saint Francis (Ind.) in
another MCC doubleheader that will start at
1 p.m. at Cougar Field.
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