Saints take two from Broncbusters, 12-2 and 11-3

Saints take two from Broncbusters, 12-2 and 11-3

GARDEN CITY, Kan. – The Seward County Community College baseball team scored double digits in each of its wins against Garden City Community College, a doubleheader sweep, 12-2 and 11-3, on Sunday at Williams Stadium. The Saints win the series against the Broncbusters, taking three of four games.  Seward, which has won seven of its last eight games, improved to 15-9 in the Jayhawk West, two games behind first-place Colby and Hutchinson, and 23-18 overall.

The Saints host Frank Phillips College for a non-conference, single nine-inning game at 3 p.m. on Tuesday at Brent Gould Field.

 

GAME ONE

The Saints used a seven-run, fifth inning and a solid effort from Chandler Poell to ease to a run-rule win in the opener.

Seward opened a four-run lead after four innings, but Garden City was still within striking distance. That all changed in the fifth inning.

Jose Caraballo led off the inning with a single and reached third on an error and a wild pitch. Zane Alexander drove him home with a single to right. Ben Tsui singled and Joe Kuhn walked to load the bases. Braxton Allen was hit by a pitch to force in Alexander and keep the bases loaded. Cruz Shope followed with a sacrifice fly to score Tsui and Seward opened a seven-run margin.

KP Werner and Cayde Ward capped the scoring in the inning. Werner drove in Kuhn and Allen with a two-run single and Ward finished it up with a two-run homer as the Saints held a 12-1 lead.

Ward went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and Werner also had three hits and drove in two runs for Seward. Caraballo, Alexander and Tsui each added a pair of hits.

Poell (2-1) won his second straight start, scattering five hits, two runs, three strikeouts and no walks over five innings for the complete game.

The Saints jumped out to a 4-0 lead with a pair runs in each of the first two innings before the Broncbusters scored a run in the third inning. Seward added a run in the fourth for a 5-1 advantage before its seven-run explosion. Garden added its final run in the fifth inning.

 

GAME TWO

Seward turned a tight game into a laugher with six runs in the later innings to complete a sweep with a game two win.

The Saints scored early with a four-run, second inning on an error, a steal of home, a Braxton Allen triple and a Cruz Shope single to take a 4-0 lead.

Starter Ryan Giberson pitched well before hitting a bump in the fourth inning. Control issues plagued Giberson as he walked the first two batters and then allowed consecutive singles for two Garden City runs. He uncorked a wild pitch to let the third and final run of the inning to score and the Broncbusters were within one at 4-3.

Seward took over in the next two innings scoring two runs in the fifth inning and four runs in the sixth to take a commanding 10-3 lead.

Zane Alexander drove in the runs in the fifth with a two-run single. Seward's four runs in the sixth came on a Cayde Ward double, a Benny Ayala groundout, a Joe Kuhn single and a Garden City error.

The Broncbusters, who only had three hits in the game, were blanked the rest of the way by Ryan Thomas, who relieved Giberson to start the fifth inning. Thomas tossed one-hit ball, struck out four and walked one over five scoreless innings.

Giberson gave up three runs on two hits, struck out three, walked three and hit a batter over four innings.

Ben Tsui had three hits and KP Werner, Alexander, Shope, and Ayala each added two hits to pace Seward's 15-hit attack.