Bullpen Provides Little Relief in Late Innings Loss
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Clarendon College | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 12 | 13 | 1 |
|
Seward County Community College | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 17 | 7 |
In their final non-conference game before the Jayhawk West season kicks off Saturday, the Seward County Saints looked like they would sail into conference play with an even 7-7 record as they led visiting Clarendon 10-3 into the 7th inning at Brent Gould Field Wednesday. However, their relief pitching provided little of that late in the game, allowing nine runs in the final three innings of play as the Bulldogs came back to shock the Saints 12-10 to drop Seward to 6-8 on the year.
Seward got on the board first Wednesday as Jared Biddy was hit by a pitch as the first batter of the game for the Saints in the bottom of the 1st and later came around to score on a groundout from Logan Nethercot to make it 1-0.
The Saints added another run in the 2nd as Justin Graff-Rowe launched a home run the other way to leadoff the inning, making it 2-0 Seward after two complete.
Clarendon got their first runs of the game in the top of the 3rd, using a pair of hits, a pair of Seward free passes and a Saint error to plate three runs and take a 3-2 lead.
The Saints came right back with a two spot in the bottom of the inning, getting an RBI single from Graff-Rowe to even the score and a run scoring double from Antonio Dorado to push Graff-Rowe home to put Seward back in front 4-3.
It remained a 4-3 game through the midway point of the game and the Saints added to their lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the 5th, getting an RBI single from Dorado and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Jared Ledbetter to push their lead to 6-3.
Seward blew the game open in the 6th, getting a two run double from Dorado to make it 8-3 and plated two more runs later in the inning to stretch their lead all the way to 10-3.
That's when the trouble began for the Saints. Clarendon loaded the bases on just one hit to begin their half of the 7th and quickly cut the Seward lead to 10-5 with a two run single, still with nobody out in the inning. It didn't stop there as the Bulldogs continued to pound Seward pitching, scoring three more times in the frame to all of a sudden make it just a 10-8 game.
Seward's lead went up in smoke in the 8th as Clarendon pushed across three more runs following a Saint error to start the inning and just like that the Bulldogs took their first lead of the afternoon at 11-10.
The Saints got their leadoff man on in the 8th, but couldn't do anything with it and into the 9th they went, trailing Clarendon 11-10.
Clarendon added an insurance run in the top of the 9th to make it 12-10, but they wouldn't need it as Seward went quietly in their final at bats as the Bulldogs came all the way back to stun the Saints in a 12-10 final.
Seward loses despite pounding out 17 hits in the contest. The Saints did make a season high 7 errors in the loss. Graff-Rowe and Dorado each had 4 hits in the loss while Dorado drove home 4 and Graff-Rowe 2 more. Trent Mulherin had 3 hits in a losing effort for the Saints while three other Seward players had 2 hits in the contest. After Brian Tims allowed 5 runs in just 2/3 of action out of the bullpen, Dylan Paul came in and gave up 3 in just 1/3 of an inning to get saddled with the loss in relief.
Seward falls to 6-8 on the year with the loss while Clarendon improves to 7-6 with their 5th straight win.
The Saints will now turn their focus to Jayhawk West Conference action where they will open play with the rival Garden City Broncbusters Saturday and Sunday at Brent Gould Field in Liberal, double headers starting both days at 1:00.