WINFIELD, Kan. – Tuesday afternoon's Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) battle between the Southwestern College baseball team, and the No. 11-ranked Eagles of Oklahoma Wesleyan University, always felt closer than the scoreboard maintained. Though the Eagles held a 6-0 lead in the eighth inning, it felt as if the Moundbuilders were still within striking distance. While SC could not come all the way back, they showed grit in the final frames, en route to a 7-4 loss against the perennial powerhouse.

The game started off with a bang for the Eagles, as they led off the top of the first inning with a triple to the right-center field wall. Then, though, the two at-bats that followed resulted in strikeouts. Oklahoma Wesleyan would need a two-out hit or error by Southwestern to allow them to score their first run of the game. The latter would ring true, as a throwing error allowed the next hitter to reach base, as well as putting the first OKWU run on the board.

The first Moundbuilder chance came in the bottom of the second, when the squad had runners at second and third with one out. Unfortunately, a groundout to the third baseman and a foulout to third squandered that opportunity. The score remained 1-0.

In the top of the third inning, OKWU nabbed a single run on a solo bomb over the left-field fence, making it 2-0 entering the last of the third.

After an unproductive half inning in the bottom of the third, SC afforded the Eagles another homer. This time, it was a two-run jack which made it 4-0 for the visitors.

A lull went over the game for the next couple of stanzas, as the next runs were not scored until the top of the seventh frame, when Oklahoma Wesleyan added two more tallies to the scoreboard. A run-scoring double to right-center field and an RBI groundout gave the No. 11-ranked squad a 6-0 advantage with just two-and-a-half innings left to play.

Southwestern would finally get to the OKWU starting pitcher in the bottom of the eighth, as they loaded the bases with nobody out. Then, London Penland hit a sacrifice fly to the left-field fence, chasing home Andrew Brown. It also sent both Tyler Seboldt and Joseph Finder 90 feet forward. Then, the big hit of the game for SC came off the bat of KCAC Player of the Week, Marcus Burton. He walloped a three-run dinger over the left-field wall to make it just a two-run Builder deficit at 6-4 with one inning remaining.

A single run was afforded to the Eagles in the top of the ninth, as a sacrifice fly brought that run home. That would be an unnecessary tally in the end, as the Oklahoma Wesleyan closer was summoned in the bottom half and, in addition to a walk; notched three strikeouts to end the game.

Just two Builders provided multiple hits to the effort, as Seboldt (3-for-4, 2B, R) and Burton (2-for-4, HR, 3 RBI, R) had five of the squad's eight hits. Single knocks from the trio of Finder, Josh Crabtree and Brown rounded out the list of base hits. Penland went 0-for-3 on the day, but did provide the sacrifice fly to drive home the team's first run of the game.

Four hurlers toed the slab for Southwestern in the loss, as Jo. Crabtree was the starter. He tossed five innings of four-run ball (three earned), while allowing eight hits and striking out six Eagles. He gave up a pair of homers before exiting. Jared Stoffel was next, as he pitched for the next two frames and allowed two runs on four hits. Reyden Rull showed out in a simple 13-pitch top of the eighth inning, where he did not allow an Oklahoma Wesleyan baserunner. Then, Jacob Woodburn allowed a single run on two hits in the top of the ninth, while setting down two batters on strikes.

Against such a talented team, it was a good effort by the Builders (8-16, 2-6 KCAC) to stay close and within striking distance. The next step for the squad is to take advantage of opportunities in the early stages. Next up for SC will be a weekend series against the Tabor College Bluejays in Winfield. The three-game series will be played at Broadway Sports Complex, but weather may become a factor. As of now, two games are slated to be played on Saturday, starting at 12 p.m. Then, the single game on Sunday is expected to start at 1 p.m. Stay tuned to the baseball schedule page on buildersports.com for possible changes to the schedule.

--buildersports.com--