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Cougars Fall Twice to No. 25 Taylor in
MCC Opener
written by Dave Parsons, Sports Information Director
Game
1 Boxscore |
Game
2 Boxscore
MASON, Ohio (3-9-2012) - The Mount Vernon
Nazarene University baseball team dropped
both games of the Cougars' first-ever
Mid-Central College Conference doubleheader
as MVNU fell 4-3 and 9-4 to NAIA No. 25
Taylor (Ind.) University on Friday afternoon
at Legacy Field.
The Trojans (4-5,
2-0 MCC), who are the two-time defending MCC
regular-season champions, manufactured a run
in the top of the first inning to take an
early 1-0 lead as Taylor used a pair of
singles and a walk to load the bases and
then plated the run on a sacrifice fly by
Jordan Coffey.
The Cougars (4-2, 0-2
MCC) got the run back in the bottom of the
first inning when sophomore outfielder Sean
Fleming led off the frame with a triple to
leftfield and came around to score with one
out on a sacrifice fly by sophomore
designated hitter Seth Eller to knot the
score at 1-1.
The Trojans regained
the lead 3-1 in the top of the second inning
on a two-out single by Michael Nassar to
plate the first run of the inning and a
two-out double down the leftfield line by
Rhett Goodmiller to bring in Nassar.
MVNU got one of the runs back in the bottom
of the third inning when with one out junior
shortstop Jordan Doherty reached on a
fielder's choice. One out later, Doherty
stole second and moved to third on a
throwing error by Goodmiller, the catcher
for Taylor. Following a walk to Eller,
sophomore third baseman Jeff Stone singled
in Doherty to close the gap to 3-2.
The Cougars tied the game at 3-3 in the
bottom of the fifth inning. Doherty led off
the frame with a single, but was thrown out
attempting to steal second base. Senior
first baseman Josh Roberts then blasted a
solo home run to deep leftfield to tie the
game. The homer was Roberts' second of the
year as he tied sophomore outfielder Jake
Dickerson for the team lead.
The
score remained tied until the top of the
seventh inning. With one out, Ryne Otis hit
a high fly ball to centerfield. Sophomore
outfielder Robert Kane could not find the
ball in the sunny, cloudless sky and it
dropped next to him for a triple. Ian
Nielsen plated Otis with an RBI single to
rightfield to give the Trojans a 4-3 lead.
MVNU threatened in the bottom of the
seventh inning as the Cougars had runners at
first and second with two outs, but they
were unable to score as Taylor took the
first game 4-3.
 Eller
(0-1) took the hard-luck loss as he gave up
two hits and a run in one inning of relief
work. Senior right-hander Kyle Barr
(left) started and worked
six innings as he scattered eight hits, one
walk, two hit batsmen, and three runs while
striking out three batters.
Drew
Flatford (1-0) earned the win in relief for
the Trojans as he allowed just one hit and
one walk in 1.2 innings with one strikeout.
Travis Tomaszewski started and worked 5.1
innings and allowed seven hits, two walks,
and three runs with four strikeouts.
Fleming paced the MVNU offensive attack with
two hits, while Goodmiller, Otis, Nielsen,
and Nassar had two hits apiece for Taylor.
"Game one felt like it was an uphill
battle for us from the start," said MVNU
coach Keith Veale. "Kyle struggled with
command early and really for the entire
game. We fell behind early and kept fighting
until Josh tied it up with the home run in
the sixth. As soon as we get even, we lose a
ball defensively and we are behind again. I
liked the way we kept pursuing things, but
we just fell short. I thought Kyle kept us
in the game even though he was not sharp."
The Trojans again took an early lead in
the second game as Otis lined a two-out,
solo homer to deep left center and Coffey
added an RBI double as Taylor led 2-0 before
the Cougars ever came to bat.
MVNU
knotted the score at 2-2 with a pair of runs
in the bottom of the second inning, but the
damage could have been even worse as the
Cougars left the bases loaded. Dickerson
drove in the first run of the inning with an
RBI single up the middle to plate Eller, who
had doubled to lead off the frame. Fleming
registered the other RBI in the inning when
he drew a bases-loaded walk with two outs.
The Trojans broke the game open in the
top of the fourth inning when they sent 10
batters to the plate and scored five times
to take a 7-2 lead. Nielsen led off the
inning with a home run to leftfield. Then,
with two outs, a single, three walks (two
with the bases loaded), and one hit batsman
helped Taylor score two more runs. Otis
closed out the scoring in the inning with a
two-run single up the middle.
MVNU
got two of the runs back in the bottom of
the fourth inning when Doherty drew a
bases-loaded walk to plate one run and
Roberts drove in another run when he
grounded into a fielder's choice with the
bases loaded as the Cougars pulled within
7-4.
However, that would be as close
as MVNU would get and the Trojans tacked on
single runs in both the top of the sixth and
seventh innings as Taylor prevailed 9-4 to
sweep the doubleheader and move into sole
possession of first place in the early MCC
race.
Senior right-hander Jerrob
Decker (1-1) took the loss for the Cougars
as he allowed eight hits, three walks, and
eight runs over five-plus innings with seven
strikeouts. Freshman lefty Cameron Juhasz
tossed the final two innings and gave up two
hits, two walks, and one run with one
strikeout.
Taylor Luna (2-0) started
and picked up the win for the Trojans as he
scattered five hits, five walks, and four
runs over five innings with six strikeouts.
Caleb Miller pitched the final two innings
and allowed just one hit to go with one
strikeout.
Eller and Stone both had
two hits apiece for MVNU, which stranded
seven base runners in the game. Otis,
Nieslen, and Derek Kinzer each collected two
hits apiece for Taylor with Otis driving in
three runs to lead the way.
"We had a
very competitive contest until we once again
couldn't find the strike zone in the fourth
inning," said Veale. "I thought Jerrob was
mixing his pitches well when all of a sudden
we walk three, hit one, and give up five
runs. We tried to respond with a couple of
runs, but the deficit was too much."
"(Taylor) is a nice ball club," Veale added.
"They have won this conference the past two
years and I can understand why. Their
pitching was solid, and I thought that
offensively they really attacked the
fastball. We will have a tough assignment
tomorrow, but I am interested to see how we
respond."
The two teams will return
to action on Saturday at noon at Legacy
Field with another MCC doubleheader. Taylor
will be the home team in both games this
time.
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