WINFIELD, Kan. – The Southwestern College baseball team's return to the diamond on Friday afternoon against the York University Panthers was looking particularly promising after the first two innings of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC) tilt. The Builders had taken a 7-1 lead after two full frames, but could not hang on to their lead, surrendering 11 unanswered runs over the following five-and-a-half innings. In the end, the Moundbuilders would suffer a 12-8 loss in the opener of the three-game series at Broadway Sports Complex.
The Builders jumped in front in the first inning, after York failed to score in the top of the inning. Chris Weatherford led off the bottom of the inning with a solo homer to left-center field, giving SC a 1-0 advantage entering into inning number two.
A solo homer from the Panthers in the top of the second tied things at 1-1, but the Moundbuilders would answer in a big way with a six-run bottom of the fourth. After loading the bases, Southwestern's catcher, Noah Prince belted a two-run double into the left-field corner. The two-bagger drove in both Josh Crabtree and Tyler Seboldt. Then, a sacrifice fly from Travis Popenhagen scored Will Johannsen, and Skyler Espinoza came across on a run-scoring single up the middle by Weatherford. An infield single to the shortstop by London Penland kept the rally going, as Weatherford scored on the play, and Marcus Burton's sac fly plated Joseph Finder for the Moundbuilders' sixth run of the frame and seventh of the game.
York responded with a single run in the top of the third, as an RBI single with the bases loaded brought home their lone tally in the stanza.
That lone run in the third inning was just the start of a locomotive-like streak for the Panthers, who would tally two more runs in the top of the fourth to make it a 7-4 ballgame. An RBI double down the left-field line, as well as a run-scoring groundout, put up the two runs for the visitors in the fourth frame.
When attempting to place a finger on the half-inning that sunk the Builder dugout, the top of the fifth was the one to select. Six York tallies came in during the frame, as two RBI singles, a run-scoring double, a two-run single and a throwing error by the SC defense led to a 7-4 Builder lead turning into a 10-7 Southwestern deficit.
Another run was added on by both teams, as the Panthers scored a run on an error in the top of the seventh, while SC grabbed a run in the top of inning number eight on a bunt single by Penland to drive in Espinoza from third.
Weatherford's 4-for-5 day at the plate with a homer and two runs-batted-in was slightly overshadowed by the squad's collapse over the middle innings. Penland supplied the team with a 3-for-5 day at the dish, accounting for a quarter of the team's 12 hits in the bout. A pair of other 2-for-4 days by both Prince (2 2B, 2 RBI) and Seboldt (R, SB) were the last two multi-hit efforts. Finder's 1-for-2 day at the dish was the last hit for the squad in their loss.
Jaxon Burns began the game nicely, getting through a pair of innings with just one run allowed, but he ended up letting seven runs (five earned) come in to score on seven hits over 4.1 innings. He surrendered just one walk, but hit three batters, while striking out four. Reyden Rull was saddled with the loss, as he came in to toss 0.2 innings and allowed three runs (two earned) on three hits. He walked one and struck out one. Taylor Petty returned from injury to toss 1.2 innings and allowed only one hit and an unearned run with a pair of strikeouts. Braden Ash surrendered two hits and one unearned tally in one-third of an inning, while Dylan Navarrette pitched two scoreless with just a hit and a walk allowed to end the tilt.
Two more matchups with the Panthers remain on Saturday for Southwestern (8-28, 2-18 KCAC). First pitch of game one is slated for noon, while the second battle will begin 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first tilt. The Moundbuilders will be looking to break their 13-game losing streak with a victory or two against York.
--buildersports.com--
