STERLING, Kan. – The Southwestern College baseball team met up with the Sterling College Warriors on Friday afternoon for the first game of their Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) weekend series. Sterling's ability to capitalize off of mistakes by Moundbuilder pitching and defense, in concert with the Builders' inability to cash in with runners on base, led to an 8-2 loss in the nine-inning affair.
Southwestern put up a pair of hits in the opening frame to start things off, but a pickoff and two strikeouts in the inning rendered those hits useless. Then, after SC recorded the first out in the bottom of the first, a hit-by-pitch and subsequent stolen base put a runner in scoring position with less than two outs. An RBI single to follow put Sterling up 1-0, as they would hold that lead into the second.
The Warriors were able to retire the Moundbuilders in order in the top of the second, before picking up an additional run in the bottom half. Two singles sandwiched in-between a pair of hit-by-pitches resulted in the second run of the tilt for the home squad. That is all they would get, as the game moved on to its third inning.
After SC attempted and failed to mount a two-out rally, following back-to-back baserunners reaching safely, a lineout to second base ended the threat. Sterling would make that hurt for the Builders, as they patiently received five runs in the bottom of the third to take a 7-0 lead into the fourth. The tallies were gifted to them in the inning on zero hits, two Moundbuilder defensive miscues, three walks and a hit batter.
Such a massive blow to the Builder psyche could have knocked them out of the game completely, but to Southwestern's credit, they battled until the end. Though the next run of the game was also scored by Sterling on an RBI single through the right side in inning number five, the Moundbuilders allowed no more damage throughout the remainder of the battle.
Though the pitching and defense settled in, the SC offense was squandering opportunities. The team had two on with no outs in the fifth inning and failed to score, as well as runners at second and third in the sixth frame with just one out without a tally crossing the plate. Runners were at first and second in the seventh inning with no outs, as well, but a fly out and a pair of punch outs ended the SC scoring chance.
Southwestern did score a single run in each of the eighth and ninth innings, as Will Johannsen scored on a wild pitch in the eighth frame and London Penland drove in Chris Weatherford with an RBI single through the left side. Simply put, opportunities to score fell by the wayside in the battle, as the Builders lacked clutch situational hitting.
It should be mentioned that neither side's hitters were going to have much success on this blustery day, as the wind was blowing straight in from center field all game long. Only one extra-base hit was tallied by the Moundbuilders, as Weatherford (3-for-5, 2B, R, SB) was credited with a two-base hit. Penland (3-for-5, RBI, SB) racked up the only RBI of the game for SC on one of his three base hits. The remaining two hits for the group came off the bats of Landon Tinsman (1-for-3, BB) and Trevor Abitia (1-for-2, 2 BB), as the squad totaled eight for the day.
Following his stellar performance on the slab last weekend in Salina, Jaxon Burns was not nearly as effective in the battle with the Warriors. He tossed just 2.1 innings and allowed seven earned runs on three hits. He walked three and hit four batters with errant pitches. The Moundbuilder bullpen steadily produced for the team, as not a single free pass was issued for the rest of the tilt by the tandem of Jared Stoffel (4.2 IP, ER, 5 H, 4 K) and Dylan Navarrette (IP, K).
Early inning woes on defense, and on the mound, sunk the Moundbuilders (8-24, 2-14 KCAC) on Friday. Luckily the squad will have an opportunity to respond tomorrow afternoon in Sterling, as they face off with the Warriors in the final two games of the KCAC series. First pitch of the opening bout on Saturday is set for 12 p.m.
--buildersports.com--
