WINFIELD, Kan. – On what was a windy afternoon on Super Bowl Sunday, the Southwestern College baseball team was looking to get off the schneid with a pair of wins against the Hastings College Broncos from the comforts of Broadway Sports Complex. They did exactly what they set out to do, snagging 8-4 and 12-2 victories over the visitors with little pushback after the first two innings of the day.

"It was a good day for our guys," said head coach Chris Dawson. "It was nice to get the first win of the year and then be able to follow it up with our most complete game of the young season," he added.

Early on, the error bug was biting the Builder defense again, as the Broncos cashed in their first run of the game on an error against Southwestern in the very first half-inning. The two-out gaffe gave Hastings a 1-0 lead, momentarily. Luckily, the same thing happened in the bottom half, as London Penland stole third and advanced to the plate on an errant throw by the catcher into left field. It was 1-1 after one.

The second inning was another frame of traded blows, as the Broncos benefitted from another costly two-out miscue by SC to put their second unearned run of the game on the scoreboard. Following that, Southwestern escaped further damage and quickly responded with back-to-back doubles by Josh Crabtree and Trevor Abitia to tie the game back up. It was a 2-2 tie entering the third.

Though the top of the third started with another Southwestern error, they found a way to evade additional runs being put up by Hastings. Then, the wheels fell off for the Broncos' starting pitcher, as he walked three batters, hit one man, and allowed two hits in the bottom of the inning. Chris Weatherford walked, and was followed by a hit-by-pitch for Penland and a bunt single by Joseph Finder. That loaded the bases for Marcus Burton with one out, as he hit a two-run single down the left-field line to give SC their first advantage. Then, after a fly out, Abitia walked with two outs and Tyler Seboldt worked a bases-loaded base-on-balls to push a run across. That would do it for the starter, but Brady Johnson was credited with an infield single to drive in a run following the pitching change, and Weatherford smacked a single up the middle to drive in two more before the end of the stanza. Southwestern led 8-2 after three full.

No scoring would occur for either side until the top half of the seventh, when Builder starter Taylor Petty reached the end of his line. He exited the game and made way for Jaxon Burns to finish the last 2.1 innings of the tilt. Before exiting, Hastings scored their lone earned run against Petty via an RBI single through the right side with two outs. They would score another run later in the frame off Burns that was unearned on an error to make it 8-4. The remainder of the bout would be simple for the Moundbuilders, as they took the first battle by that score.

Scoring came early and often again in game two for Southwestern, as they tallied three runs in the opening frame after holding the Broncos to nothing in the top half. The three runs came on a three-run moonshot to left field by Jo. Crabtree with two outs. The bomb scored both Burton and Seboldt to give SC a 3-0 lead.

Then, in inning number two, Travis Popenhagen connected on a leadoff double down the left-field line to quickly allow an RBI chance for the Moundbuilders. Weatherford followed him with an infield single and subsequently stole second. With runners at second and third, a wild pitch went to the backstop after kicking off the catcher. It ended up bouncing far enough away that both Popenhagen and Weatherford were allowed to score on the play. The inning then restarted with a single up the middle by Penland, followed by a throwing error by the Broncos' third baseman to put runners at first and third with no outs. Zach Boone then put down a bunt to try to sacrifice himself to move Seboldt to second base, but the pitcher's throw to first sailed over the head of the first baseman. Penland came in to score, while Seboldt headed to third and Boone reached first. Burton was then hit by a pitch to load the bases before two strikeouts were recorded. Landon Tinsman followed that by hitting a high fly ball to left field that was dropped and allowed all three runners to score unearned to cap the six-run frame. It was 9-0 after two.

Hastings would put together a short rally in the third inning, as they got a leadoff walk and a one-out RBI triple to pick up their first run. Then, a run-scoring single to center scratched across their second tally in the next at-bat. A double play ball would end the inning on the next batter, as Southwestern turned a 6-4-3 twin-killing to terminate the frame.

Southwestern would erase the Broncos' progress with an iron fist in the bottom half of the third, as they received a bunt single from Penland, a single through the left side of the infield from Seboldt, and a three-run blast from Burton to vault their lead back up to 10 runs at 12-2. No more scoring would come for either side for the rest of the battle at the Moundbuilders coasted to a 12-2 triumph over Hastings.

Offensively, the Builders only tallied 16 hits for the day, but they came in the most opportune moments. The two three-run homers hit by Jo. Crabtree and Burton came with two outs, while four of the tallies in the six-run third inning of game one came with two outs recorded. Weatherford led the way for SC with three hits on the afternoon, while he drove home two runs in game one. Burton (HR, 5 RBI), Jo. Crabtree (HR, 3 RBI) and Penland each had a pair of hits in the wins. Seboldt and Johnson also picked up runs batted in in the contests.

Petty allowed only four hits over 6.2 innings of work, and allowed four runs in total. Just one of those tallied was earned, as he evened his record to 1-1 on the season after being credited with the win in game one. He punched out six hitters and walked two, as both free passes came in his seventh inning on the bump. Burns followed with 2.1 innings of scoreless ball, as he allowed two hits and earned the save for his efforts coming in with the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh.

Gannon Dow held the Hastings bats at bay for most of his five-inning outing, as he allowed just two hits and walked a pair of hitters to allow a couple of earned tallies. His replacement, Trevor Sides provided a masterful performance, in which he struck out five of the six hitters that he retired in two innings of work without allowing a hit. It was a stellar debut for the freshman arm.

"We still need to clean thing up defensively," stated Dawson, "but Petty and Dow gave us phenomenal starts today, and it was good to see the offense get going in game two," he opined. "We are looking forward to building off this weekend and finding ways to get better for next weekend."

Southwestern (2-5) will return to the diamond on Friday, Feb. 17 when they play the Central Christian College (Kan.) Tigers and the Dordt University (Iowa) Defenders in another triangular event in McPherson, Kan. The battles will be hosted by the Tigers and will be played at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., respectively.

--buildersports.com--