Saints Split Home Series Against Colby

LIBERAL, Kan. - In two high scoring affairs, the Seward County baseball team (15-10, 3-3 KJCCC) split their home series with the Colby Trojans on Thursday, winning game one 15-8 before falling in game two 12-1 from the run-rule.

GAME ONE RECAP

Tanner King (3-1) started on the mound in game one, picking up the win after 5.0 innings.  He gave up eight runs on eight hits, while striking out five batters.  Hunter Ratcliffe came in to relieve King, pitching 2.0 innings.  He gave up two hits and struck out three batters.

Seward came away with 17 hits on the day with Brendan Madsen (3), Dylan Paul (3), Benny Ayala (3), Spencer Sackett (2), Cole Bergdall (2) and Cruz Shope (2) each finishing with multiple hits.

The Trojans got on the board first to start the first inning.  A leadoff double put a runner in scoring position.  A sac fly pushed him to third, but an error on the throw allowed him to reach home for the first run of the game.

The Saints fired back immediately with a leadof home run by Madsen to tie the game. Spencer Sackett singled too batters later before Paul drove him in with a double to left field to give Seward the 2-1 lead.

Back-to-back home runs in the top of the second game gave Cobly a 3-2 lead, but it was short lived as Madsen tied the game with a single to left field, scoring Shope, who reached on an error. Sackett walked and Paull drove in two more runs with another double to make it 5-3 Seward.

King retired the side in the third to give the Saints a chance to extend their lead and Bergdall did just that, hitting a dinger over the left field wall to make it 6-3.

Colby cut into the lead in the top of the fourth with a two-out, two-run home run to right field to make it 6-5, but Paul increased the Saints lead with another RBI, this time with a single to right field.

A single and a double to leadoff the fifth inning put runners at the corners for the Trojans before back-to-back singles scored both runs to tie the game at 7.

The Saints struck back in the bottom of the fifth with five runs.  Two doubles put runners at 2nd and 3rd.  Shope drove in both runners to make it 9-7 before Braxton Allen drove in Shope with a single to right field to bring the game to 10-7. Sackett drove in two more runs with the next at-bat to make it 12-7.

Colby led off with a double in the sixth inning and was drove home with a two-out line drive single to left field, but that would prove to be the final Trojans run. 

Bergdall led off the bottom of the sixth with a single before Ayala hit a bomb over the left field fence for a two-run homer.  Shope connected on a line drive double before Madsen hit a sac fly to score the final run of the game, making it 15-8.

GAME TWO RECAP

Cole Evans (3-2) started on the mound for the Saints in game two.  He only pitched 4.0 innings, giving up six runs off six hits.  He managed to strike out five Trojans.  Jordan Pepper and West Reddell pitched 3.0 innings of relief, giving up a combined six runs off of five hits.

The Saints came away with six hits in the game and Paul finished with half of those, including the lone RBI.

The Trojans began to slowly build a lead in the first inning.  A leadoff double, followed by an error allowed Colby to hit a sacrifice fly to score the first run. Colby extended their lead in the second inning with a solo home run to make it 2-0.

With Seward's bats struggling, a two-run home run by Colby pushed their lead to four before the Saints could get on the board.  Paul gave the Saints some life in the third inning with a two-out line drive single to left field to make it 4-1, but that would be all Seward could muster for the game.

Two errors to lead off the fourth inning scored another run for the Trojans. Colby got runners at second and third to start the fifth inning with a single and double before another single made it 6-1.

While the Trojans methodically gained their lead for the majority of the game, it was a six-run seventh inning that ended the game for the Saints.  A double and a walk sandwhich a fly out for Colby to start the inning before a single drove in one run. It appeared the Saints would escape the inning after Pepper struck out the next batter for the second out, but it was not meant to be. Three singles and an error scored four runs for the Trojans, making it 12-1.

Two fly outs and a pop out effectively ended the game from the run-rule

Seward has two more games against the Trojans this week, as they will travel to Colby on Saturday at 1 p.m. for a doubleheader.