WINFIELD, Kan. – The Southwestern College baseball team was back in action on short notice on Monday morning at Broadway Sports Complex, as forecasted weather pushed their battle with No. 23-ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan University up a day. The aforementioned bout was competitive through the first half of the game, but 10 runs by the Eagles over the last two innings broke the game open, as the Builders were run-ruled by a 12-run margin in seven innings, 16-4.
Things began inauspiciously for the Moundbuilders, as OKWU picked up their first run of the game in the first inning on a fielding error by Southwestern. The tally came home on zero hits in the frame, while SC countered with three hits, but squandered their opportunity to strike back.
The Eagles would grab another run in the top of the second, as an infield single with runners at the corners and two outs resulted in the runner from third coming across. The squad would then strand the bases loaded, as Southwestern did a nice job limiting the damage.
Southwestern would finally keep Oklahoma Wesleyan off the board in the top of the third, as two runners were stranded in scoring position by OKWU. Following the third inning, in which SC added two more hits of their own, the Moundbuilders held a 5-3 advantage in the hit category. Unfortunately, they trailed the proceedings 2-0 entering the fourth.
Oklahoma Wesleyan would make SC pay for their failures to capitalize in the top of the fourth inning. Three runs came in during the stanza, as a sacrifice fly, a bases-loaded walk and a passed ball put OKWU up 5-0 through three-and-a-half. Finally, Southwestern would get onto the board with a run in the last half of the fourth. Josh Crabtree led off the inning with a double down the left-field line, and moved up to third on an errant throw in from the left fielder, putting a runner at third with no one out. Noah Prince immediately hit a grounder to the shortstop to drive in Jo. Crabtree, making it 5-1 entering the fifth.
The Eagles would erase that tally quickly, putting runners at first and second with two outs recorded. Then, a single up the middle sent the runner home from second, and the ball was kicked around in center before Marcus Burton picked it up and relayed the ball in to Joseph Finder and on to Prince to tag out the runner from first who was attempting to score on the play. The 6-1 Eagle lead would be cut into again in the bottom of the frame, though, as a run-scoring double off the bat of Finder drove in Tyler Seboldt. Things were about to be turned upside-down for Southwestern, however.
Six total runs came in to score for Oklahoma Wesleyan in the top of the sixth, as they doubled their output for the game. Five hits were tallied in the inning, as two doubles, two singles and a homer were hit to break the battle open. A three-run blast was the capper for the squad in the frame, after an RBI groundout and two run-scoring singles were hits. It was suddenly a 12-2 game through five-and-a-half.
After failing to score in the bottom of the sixth, the Builders afforded the Eagles four more runs in the seventh. An RBI single, a sac fly and a two-run dinger to right field made it 16-2, as SC would need five runs to even keep the game going. A pair of those runs were retrieved by the Moundbuilders in the bottom of the seventh on a two-run double by Prince. London Penland and Finder trotted in to score, but that would not be enough, as the game ended in seven frames by a final score of 16-4.
Sporting a perfect 3-for-3 batting line on the day was Finder, who had a pair of doubles and a single to his credit. He knocked in a run and scored a run, while also working a walk. Seboldt (2-for-4, R), Penland (2-for-3, R) and Prince (2-for-4, 2B, 3 RBI) had two hits in the game. Burton (1-for-4) and Jo. Crabtree (1-for-4, 2B, R) had the only other two hits for SC in the bout.
Five pitchers combined to toss seven innings on Monday morning, as Dylan Navarrette was the starter. His second start of the 2023 season yielded 3.2 innings and five runs (three earned) on five hits. The glaring issue was the six walks that he surrendered, but he was otherwise effective at keeping SC in the game. Jared Stoffel came in to clean up a third of an inning and did not allow a run on his line. Trevor Sides tossed 1.1 innings and allowed seven runs on six hits, including a homer. He walked two batters. Reyden Rull threw a scoreless two-thirds of a frame, allowing one hit and one walk. Then, Braden Ash allowed four runs over the final inning of the game on three hits. He was responsible for the lone strikeout by a Builder pitcher, and also walked one hitter.
The final series of the 2023 season for the Moundbuilders (8-38, 2-28 KCAC) will be played in Winfield on Friday, Apr. 28 and Saturday, Apr. 29 against the Avila University Eagles. The three-game set will consist of a lone nine-inning bout on Friday at 3 p.m., and a doubleheader on Saturday, beginning at 1 p.m.
--buildersports.com--
