Bullpen Blows Leads, Saints Swept By Midland

Going into the 5^th inning of both ends of their doubleheader Saturday afternoon against Midland the Seward County Saints looked like they were in pretty good shape.  Unfortunately for the guys in green, the Chaparrals outscored Seward 13-3 from the 5^th inning on in the twinbill to come from behind and take both games from the Saints 11-8 and 9-7, dropping Seward to just 4-7 on the year. 

The Saints came out swinging in game one of the doubleheader, getting three 1^st inning singles including an RBI knock from Logan Nethercot to take an early 1-0 lead. 

Seward added to their lead in the 2^nd as Chad Kennedy singled home a run and Brent Williams ripped another RBI single to make it a 3-0 contest in favor of the Saints. 

Saints starter Grant Glaze held Midland in check through three and Seward added to their lead in the top half of the 4^th as Williams launched a 1-0 pitch over the left center field wall for a two run home run to put Seward on top 5-0. 

Midland finally figured Glaze out in the 4^th, scoring three times with two outs in the inning to cut the Saints lead to 5-3 and the Chaps chased Glaze from the game and took the lead with a four run 5^th to make the score 7-5 in favor of Midland. 

The Saints went silently in the 6^th and Midland continued to add onto their lead, scoring four more times in the inning to blow the game wide open at 11-5. 

Seward didn't go down quietly in their final at bats as Jared Ledbetter tripled home a pair with one out and later scored himself on a double from Trent Mulherin, but it was not enough for the Saints as they left the tying run on deck as they fell 11-8. 

The Saints actually outhit Midland in the game 14-12, getting multi-hit games from four different players in the loss.  Williams finished 2 for 4 with a homer and 3 RBI's while Ledbetter was 2 for 4 with 2 RBI's and a pair of runs scored in the defeat.  Thomas Garland was the pitcher of record for the Saints, allowing 4 hits and 4 earned runs in just 1 1/3 innings of relief to get collared with his first loss of the season. 

SEWARD COUNTY/#15 MIDLAND GAME ONE BOX SCORE

The Saints got off to a rough start in game two of the twinbill as Midland scored twice with two outs in the bottom half of the 1^st inning to go ahead 2-0. 

Seward responded though and pounded out seven hits in the top half of the 2^nd inning, batting around and scoring four times on RBI knocks from Dillon Drury, Mulherin, and Williams to take a 4-2 lead of their own. 

After starter Brent Bezio settled down, blanking the Chaps in the 2^nd and 3^rd innings to keep Seward in front 4-2, the Saints added to their advantage.  Back to back doubles from Mulherin and Alex White produced a run and Williams blasted his second home run of the day, this one a two run shot to extend the Saints lead to 7-2. 

Midland got a two run home run of their own in the bottom half of the 4^th to cut the Saints lead to 7-4, but Bezio blanked them in the 5^th and 6^th to keep the score right there as the teams went to the 7^th inning. 

Seward's bats went dead and Midland took advantage after stretch time, getting two straight triples to open their half of the 7^th followed by an RBI single later on in the inning to cut it to a 7-6 game. 

The Saints grounded into a double play to end their second straight inning in the top of the 8^th and the Chaps didn't take mercy on them as they came to hit in the bottom half of the inning.  Midland pounded out three straight hits to tie the game at 7 and used a groundout and a two out single to take the lead 9-7. 

Seward got a leadoff single from White to give themselves three shots at tying the game in the top of the 9^th but a fly out and another twin killing finished off their chances as Midland hung on to win 9-7. 

Once again the Saints swung the bats relatively well, finishing with 13 hits including 7 extra base hits in the contest.  Saints pitching however, yielded 16 Midland hits in the two run loss.  Williams again shined in the middle of the Seward order, finishing 3 for 5 while missing the cycle by just a triple and also driving in 3 runs.  His high school teammate White also had a 3 hit game, driving home and scoring one run.  Mulherin was 2 for 5 leading off for the Saints for the first time this season.  He had a pair of doubles and accounted for four of the seven Seward runs in the loss.  Chris Juracek was tagged with the loss out of the Saints bullpen, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits in 1 1/3 innings of work. 

SEWARD COUNTY/#15 MIDLAND GAME TWO BOX SCORE

The Saints end their weekend in Texas 1-3, dropping to a disappointing 4-7 to start the season.  Midland uses the doubleheader sweep to improve to 5-5 on the year. 

Seward will now turn their attention to Jayhawk West action where they will kick off the conference schedule with a four game set with Dodge City at Brent Gould Field next weekend.