WINFIELD, Kan. – Southwestern College's baseball squad was back at Broadway Sports Complex in Winfield on Sunday for their last of three battles against the Ottawa University Braves. The Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) matchup went the way of the Braves, as the Moundbuilders tied the game at one point, but could not stay with the potent Ottawa offense. The final score was 13-9, sealing the sweep over the Builders.
The top half of the first resulted in two runs, as a run-scoring single and an RBI double by the Braves put them up by two before SC had even picked up a bat.
Not much happened for the Moundbuilders through their first three innings on offense. They tallied zero hits in that span. Ottawa also struggled to score until the top of the fourth, when they picked up one tally on an RBI single through the left side of the infield. After a hit-by-pitch to Joseph Finder in the latter half of the fourth, Josh Crabtree delivered the first base hit of the game for the Builders, sending Finder around to score on an RBI double to left field. The hit made it a 3-1 Ottawa lead after four.
After holding the Braves to nothing in the top of the fifth, a two-run double by Marcus Burton would drive home both Andrew Brown and Will Johannsen to tie the score at 3-3.
Needing a shutdown inning in the top of the sixth, Southwestern instead allowed five runs on four hits to Ottawa. A sacrifice fly got the scoring started, followed by a run-scoring double and a two-run single. Then, another sac fly and an RBI single made it 8-3 entering the bottom of the frame. There would be a response from the Builders, as Trevor Abitia singled up the middle to make it 8-4.
Another run would be scored by the Braves in the seventh, as a solo bomb was hit to extend the OU lead to five runs at 9-4. Southwestern would quickly strike back with a solo homer of their own in the bottom of the seventh. Finder drilled a ball to deep right that sailed over the wall for his fifth homer of the season, making it 9-5 for the visitors.
One more run would be tallied by SC in the bottom of the eighth, as Conner Hern smacked his first career collegiate hit and picked up his first RBI at the college level. Abitia came in to score on the hit, as the Moundbuilders made it just a three-run game at 9-6 entering the ninth.
With two outs and the bases loaded in the ninth inning, the Braves nabbed an infield single to extend their lead to four runs, before a bases-clearing double by the following hitter made it 13-6. The big frame by the visitors made it feel as if the game was sealed for good.
However, Southwestern did not let that get to them, as they loaded the bases without recording an out in the bottom of the frame. Noah Prince then delivered a two-run single thorugh the left side of the infield to make it a 13-8 ballgame. Then, after the bags became loaded again, Andrew Brown stepped up to the plate and was plunked by an errant pitch. It forced home Jo. Crabtree, as it cut the lead to just four. The 13-9 score would hold, though, as the Braves sent in their closer to shut the door on the bout.
Ten hits were supplied by the Moundbuilder lineup, as the second, third and fourth hitters in the order each ripped a pair of base hits. Finder (2-for-3, HR, RBI, 3 R, BB, HBP), Burton (2-for-4, 2B, 2 RBI, R, BB) and Jo. Crabtree (2-for-4, 2B, RBI, 2 R, BB) were the multi-hit providers, as four other Builders tallied hits. Prince (1-for-5, 2 RBI), Abitia (1-for-4, RBI, R, BB), Landon Tinsman (PH, 1-for-1) and Hern (1-for-4, RBI) were responsible for the last four knocks.
Jo. Crabtree was the squad's starting pitcher, and though his numbers do not look like anything special (5.1 IP, 8 H, 8 ER, 5 K, 2 BB), he had allowed just three runs through the first five innings and was pitching in a tie game before his downturn in the sixth. Reyden Rull allowed just one run on the day in his 1.2 innings on the bump in relief. The run came on a solo homer in the seventh. He also set down three batters on strikes during his time on the slab. Micah Cleveland made his third appearance of the year, tossing a three-up-three-down eighth inning with a strikeout. Finally, Jacob Woodburn nearly found a way to get out of the ninth inning unscathed, but instead allowed four runs on three hits. He walked two batters and struck out all three hitters that he retired.
A last-minute change to the schedule means that there is more Southwestern (8-37, 2-27 KCAC) baseball on the docket for tomorrow morning at Broadway. The previously scheduled battle between No. 23-ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan University and SC on Tuesday, Apr. 25 at 3 p.m. will be moved up due to forecasted weather in Winfield. The game will now be played at 11 a.m. on Monday, Apr. 24.
--buildersports.com--
