Saints Win a Shootout at the BG Corral
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Frank Phillips College | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 17 | 1 |
|
Seward County Community College | 1 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 15 | 5 |
The Seward County Saints and Frank Phillips Plainsmen locked up Wednesday afternoon at Brent Gould Field in Liberal in a good old fashioned shootout on the baseball diamond. In a game that featured 32 hits and 35 runs, it was Seward holding on for an 18-17 victory over the Plainsmen to improve to 18-11 overall on the year.
It didn't take long for the scoring to get started in this one as the first four Frank Phillips hitters of the top half of the 1st inning reached base, including a two run home run and an RBI double later in the inning to quickly put the Plainsmen up 4-0 before the Saints even had a chance to hit.
The Saints got a run back in the bottom half of the inning on a sacrifice fly from Brent Williams to make it 4-1 and Seward escaped a jam in the top of the 2nd when pitcher Chris Juracek left the bases loaded at innings end to keep the score 4-1.
A two out Seward rally drew the Saints to within one in the 2nd as Alex White ripped an RBI double and John Solberg singled behind him to make it a 4-3 game.
Frank Phillips once again loaded the bases in the top half of the 3rd on just one hit, but for the second straight inning the Plainsmen were unable to push a run across and the Saints took full advantage this time.
Williams and Kevin Connolly singled to start the Seward half of the 3rd and a one out double from Hayden Killam scored them both to put the Saints on top for the first time in the game 5-4. After a two out walk to White to load the bases later in the inning Solberg earned his second RBI of the game, drawing a seven pitch walk to put the Saints up 6-4. Down to their last strike in the inning freshman outfielder Brandon Urquizo smacked a bases clearing double to score three runs and just like that Seward was in front 9-4 at the end of 3.
Seward pitching dealt its first zero in the top half of the 4th and the Saints tacked onto their lead as Williams left the yard with a solo home run to put the guys in green on top 10-4 after 4.
The Saints big lead didn't last long though as their bullpen imploded in the 5th. Seward pitching allowed six runs in the top half of the 5th aided by three free passes and an error on the mound to allow Frank Phillips to tie the game at 10.
Once again though, the Saints offense picked them up. After a pair of walks loaded the bases for Seward with one out, Williams just missed his second home run in as many innings, clearing the bases with a double to put Seward back in front 13-10. Williams later came around to score on a double from Max Lusk and after 5 it was Seward 14 and Frank Phillips 10.
Grant Glaze worked a rare 1-2-3 inning for the Saints in the 6th and the offense built onto their lead in the bottom half of the frame.
For the third straight inning, the Saints loaded the bases early in the inning and productive outs from Solberg and Urquizo added two runs to make it a 16-10 game.
Just when it looked like the Saints had regained order and control in the game, Frank Phillips responded with five runs in the top half of the 7th inning, once again helped out by wildness on the mound by Seward to cut it to a one run game 16-15 in favor of the Saints.
Each team's next at bats were uneventful as both went down in order to take the game to the bottom of the 8th with the score still 16-15.
A Frank Phillips error gave the Saints two insurance runs in the 8th to make it 18-15 and Seward would be thankful of them in the 9th.
A one out Seward error in the 9th extended what would have been a 1-2-3 inning and a pair of two out RBI singles drew the Plainsmen to within one once again at 18-17. For the second time in the week, Adam Guay was called upon to close things out and that he did with his second two out save in five days to seal a wild 18-17 win for Seward County.
Frank Phillips actually outhit the Saints 17-15 in the game and Seward committed 5 errors to the Plainsmen's 2. There were 17 walks between the two teams and Seward pitchers hit 5 Frank Phillips batters.
Williams had a huge day at the plate for Seward, going 3 for 4 with 5 RBI's and missing the cycle by just a triple for the second time this season. Urquizo had a nice go of it at the top of the Saints lineup, finishing 2 for 4 with 2 doubles and 4 RBI's. In spot starts Solberg and Killam both performed well as each finished with 2 hits, 2 runs scored, and the two combined for 5 RBI's in the win. Thomas Garland earned the win for Seward out of the bullpen in another wild twist to this one. Garland allowed 4 hits and 3 runs in just 2/3 innings of work, but statistically was still credited for the victory. Guay earned his second save of the year, working to just one batter to finish things out for Seward.
The Saints improve to 18-11 overall on the year with the win while Frank Phillips drops to 12-9.
Seward returns to Jayhawk West action this weekend in a huge conference series against the rival Hutchinson Blue Dragons at Hobart Detter Field. The Saints and Dragons enter the Saturday/Sunday series tied atop the conference standings as Seward is 8-4 and Hutchinson is 6-2 early on.