Saints earn a pair of road wins over Conqs

DODGE CITY, Kan. – The Seward County Community College baseball team won a doubleheader from Dodge City Community College, rallying to win the opener, 4-3, while taking the nightcap, 6-4, in extra innings on Thursday. The teams complete the four-game series with the Saints hosting the Conquistadors at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Brent Gould Field.

The Saints, who swept a road series for the first time this season, improved to 10-8 in the Jayhawk West and 18-17 overall. Seward is fifth in the Jayhawk West, but only two games behind first-place Barton.

GAME ONE

Seward scored twice in the top of the seventh inning to post a come-from-behind victory in the first game.

Trailing 3-2 heading into the seventh, Joe Kuhn led off the inning for the Saints with a hit by pitch. Kason Haggard sacrificed Kuhn over to second and Cruz Shope walked. AJ Folds followed with a single to score Kuhn to tie the game and send Shope to third. Cayde Ward followed with a sacrifice fly to drive in Shope and give the Saints a 4-3 lead.

Ryan Thomas entered in the bottom of the seventh for Seward to close out the game. Thomas allowed a one-out double to pinch-hitter Jackson Hogg, but got a strikeout and fly out to center to earn his fourth save of the season and seal the victory.

Tanner King won his third straight start, improving to 5-2. He allowed three runs, two earned, on six hits, struck out six and walked none over six innings.

The Saints took a 2-0 lead with singles runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Kuhn drove in the run with a bases loaded walk in the fourth and Ward had an RBI single in the fifth.

King cruised along until the bottom of the fifth when Dodge City went ahead 3-2 on a pair of run-scoring singles and an RBI triple.

Seward was victorious despite being out-hit seven to four. Jose Caraballo, Shope, Folds and Ward had the only hits for the Saints.

GAME TWO

Seward snapped a tie in the top of the tenth to earn the win in extra innings in the nightcap.

In a back-and-forth contest, Seward and Dodge Coty were tied at 4-4 in the 10^th inning. The Saints broke the deadlock with two runs in the top of the inning. After a lead-off double by Benny Ayala, Owen Martin struck out. Zane Alexander reached based on an error and Ayala scored the go-ahead run. Joe Kuhn followed with a double to drive in Alexander and give Seward an insurance run at 6-4.

Dodge City threatened in the ninth with a pair of two-out walks, but Braeden Gould got the final out to preserve the victory for the Saints.

Gould (1-4) posted his first win of the season, giving up a hit over 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief. Gould relieved Cole Evans in the eighth and with two outs and a runner on second and struck out Dodge City's Cameron Fritz to end the inning.

Evans, who started the game, allowed four runs, two earned, on nine hits, struck out six, walked one and gave up a homer over 7 2/3 innings in the no-decision.

Seward took a 2-0 lead after two innings on an Ayala RBI single in the first and a Jose Caraballo home run. Dodge City took the lead at 3-2 with a run in the third and two in the sixth.

The Saints came back to tie it in the seventh on a Cruz Shope RBI single and took the lead at 4-3 in the eighth on a run-scoring fielder's choice by Caraballo. The lead was short-lived as the Conquistadors tied it in the bottom of the inning.

Ayala went 3-for-5, Caraballo drove in a pair of runs and Owen Martin and Kuhn had a pair of hits for Seward, which played in its first extra inning contest of the season.