SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Southwestern College baseball team's first series of 2023 began on Saturday afternoon in Springfield, Mo. against the Evangel University Valor. The doubleheader, comprised of two seven-inning bouts, was led by the Builders for just a half inning over the course of 13 total innings played. Early struggles in game one, combined with just three hits in game two resulted in a pair of losses, 9-3 and 10-5, respectively.

"It's not the start to the season that we wanted," said first-year head coach Chris Dawson. "However, there were some positives. We do need to be more consistent in every aspect of the game, but outside of three big innings we allowed, I think we played well."

A tumultuous first inning of game one, in which Southwestern was retired in order, ended with the Valor posting an eight-run frame in the bottom half. Evangel compiled six hits in the inning, including four singles, a double, and a three-run homerun. There were also two errors committed by SC in the first, allowing multiple extra opportunities to the Valor.

Following the outburst by Evangel, no runs would be scored until the top half of inning number two, when Southwestern tallied their first two runs of the campaign. After Chris Weatherford reached first on an error, London Penland stepped to the plate and smashed a two-run homer over the left-field fence, as the score sat at 8-2 in favor of EU at that point.

The remaining 4.5 innings of the tilt were less eventful, as one run would be scored by both teams in the sixth inning, which were the only runs to be scored after the top of the third. The Builders obtained an RBI double from Landon Tinsman to score Will Johannsen after he reached base via a walk. The Evangel retort came off of a solo bomb, which erased the single tally by the Moundbuilders in the top half. No further additions to the score would come, as the Valor nabbed a 9-3 win over SC thanks largely in part to their eight-run first.

Game two did not get out of reach as quickly as the first battle did, in fact, Southwestern was the first squad to put up a run. They grabbed a tally that was gifted to them via a throwing miscue by the Valor shortstop. Johannsen hit a one-hop grounder to short, which was fielded and then thrown wildly off the mark to first base. Josh Crabtree came around from second to score on the play after walking to reach base and heading up to second on a passed ball. Unfortunately, Evangel put forth four runs of their own in the bottom half of the second. An RBI single, a two-run double and another run-scoring double, supplied the four tallies to the home squad. They led 4-1 after two.

The Builders struck next in the top of the fourth inning with a single run on just a single hit. Johannsen came through with an RBI single to left field that scored Zach Boone after he had walked. Further cutting into the deficit, SC grabbed another run in the fifth frame on a single to left by Penland, which scored Weatherford from third base after he had walked and stolen second base. The Builders had cut the Valor lead to just one at 4-3 after 4.5 innings.

Evangel would respond in the bottom of the sixth inning, though, as they racked up six runs in the stanza on seven hits, while hitting for the cycle as a team. They had a solo homer to start the inning, followed by four singles, a double and a triple which combined to knock home five additional runs. With just two remaining chances at bat, Southwestern was facing an uphill battle, down 10-3.

A couple more runs were scored by the Moundbuilders in the seventh on a balk which scored Marcus Burton and a RBI groundout by Joseph Finder to score Tyler Seboldt. but the damage had been done in the fifth inning by the Valor. They held on to take a 10-5 victory in game two.

The Moundbuilders had eight hits in the first battle and just three in the latter tilt, as Penland had a hit in each game, as well as a homer and a pair of runs batted in. Boone had three hits in six at bats in the third spot in the batting order. He had two singles and a double on the afternoon. Johannsen also had multiple hits on the day, as he was the final Builder with more than one hit on the afternoon. Jo. Crabtree, Tinsman, Seboldt and Burton rounded out the list of Builders with a single hit on Saturday.

Jacob Crabtree had a difficult first inning in game one, but settled in to throw four innings in total. He was relieved by Reyden Rull, who tossed the final two innings of the game and allowed just one run on two hits.

Nathan Simmons started game two for SC, and was pitching effectively until the fifth frame when the wheels came off the wagon. He was followed by Braden Ash, who finished the remaining 1.1 innings of the bout with just one run allowed on a couple of hits.

"We have a great group of guys," Dawson conitnued. "We are looking forward to bouncing back in games three and four."

Southwestern (0-2) will have two more chances to face the Valor on Sunday, as they look to even up their record at 2-2 with two victories. First pitch for the doubleheader is set for 12 p.m. in Springfield, Mo.

--buildersports.com--