8th Place T-Birds Bomb Saints

After completely dominating Cloud County on day one of their Jayhawk West Conference series, the Seward County Saints fell just as flat in the other direction on day two of the series as the 8^th place T-Birds put it on Seward to the tune of 11-4 and 12-9 victories to put a large question mark on the Saints hopes for a Region VI Tournament home series in two weeks. 

The 1^st inning of game three was a sign of things to come for the Saints on Saturday as a pair of singles and two straight wild pitches allowed Cloud County to equal their offensive production from all of day one of the series as they took an early 1-0 lead. 

The T-Birds were back on the offensive in the 2^nd, using three hits to score three runs to go on top 4-0 as the Saints were forced to go to their bullpen after just five outs in the game. 

John Solberg rocked a solo home run for the Saints with two outs in the bottom of the 2^nd to make it a 4-1 game, but Seward couldn't mount anything else against Cloud 1^st baseman turned pitcher Jesse Rall who held the 4-1 lead for the T-Birds into the 5^th. 

Rall walked two Seward hitters to start the 5^th and the Saints took advantage of the free passes, getting an RBI double from Reed Thompson and later on an RBI single from Bryson Allen and a sac fly off the bat of Brent Williams to tie the game at 4. 

Cloud struck right back in the top of the 6^th however, using a pair of doubles and a hit batter to go back in front 6-4 and later in the inning they scored on another wild pitch by Saints pitching to grab a 7-4 advantage. 

After a 1-2-3 bottom half of the 6^th for the Saints in which they saw just seven pitches, Cloud blew the game open.  The T-Birds scored four times on four hits and were aided by a Seward error to put the game out of reach at 11-4. 

It was another quick inning for the Saints in the bottom half of the 7^th as Rall completed what he started, needing just six pitches to retire Seward and finish the game as the T-Birds picked up the 11-4 win. 

After finishing with just 6 hits in two games on Friday, Cloud pounded out 15 hits against Seward pitching in game three of the series.  The Saints themselves only managed 5 hits in the contest, matched by their 5 errors on the defensive end.  Allen was 2 for 3 for Seward in the loss while Thompson had their only extra base hit with the 5^th inning RBI double.  Saints starter Keenan Hall lasted just 1 2/3 innings in the defeat.  Hall allowed 5 hits and 4 runs, 2 earned in a no decision.  Adam Guay was tagged with the loss out of the Seward bullpen, yielding 3 hits and 3 runs, all earned, in 3 2/3 innings of work. 

SEWARD COUNTY/CLOUD COUNTY GAME THREE BOX SCORE

Badly needing a win in the series finale, the Saints got off to a good start in game four, scoring three times in the bottom half of the 1^st inning, two coming off of an RBI triple from Jordan Leinweber and another coming on a Cloud error to give Seward an early 3-0 advantage. 

Cloud got two runs back in the top half of the 2^nd however as they loaded the bases without the benefit of a hit and scored runs on a fielder's choice and an RBI single to cut the Seward lead to 3-2. 

The Saints matched the two run inning in the bottom half of the frame, getting a sac fly off the bat of Williams and a two out infield single from Kevin Connolly to score a run to make it 5-2. 

Seward played with fire in the 3^rd as Cloud loaded the bases without scoring, but they couldn't do it twice as the T-Birds once again packed the sacks in the 4^th, this time scoring three times with two outs in the inning to knot the game at 5. 

After five runs in the first two innings, the Saints bats when ice cold.  Seward couldn't break through in the 3^rd, 4^th, or 5^th innings and the game went to the 6^th still tied at 5.

Cloud County broke that tie in the top half of the 6^th as the first four hitters of the inning collected hits to plate two runs to make it a 7-5 game in favor of the T-Birds. 

The Saints got their leadoff men on in both the 6^th and 7^th but both times the runners were erased on double plays to keep them behind by two, 7-5 at stretch time. 

Seward reliever Thomas Garland gave the Saints a chance, tossing another scoreless frame in the 8^th, but for the third straight inning Seward wasted a chance to score after their leadoff man reached and to the 9^th the game went with the score still 7-5. 

Cloud picked up an insurance run on a pair of hits to begin the 9^th and the T-Birds greeted reliever Adam Guay rudely out of the bullpen as Cloud blasted back to back home runs to score four runs to blow the game open 12-5. 

Seward finally decided to get their bats going in their final trips to the plate as they scored four times in the 9^th to make things interesting, but with the tying run on deck and one out in the inning, a line drive double play ended the threat and the Saints fell 12-9. 

Hits were equal for the two sides at 14 a piece while Seward pitching walked 8 Cloud hitters and hit another 4 in the loss.  Leinweber finished 3 for 5 with 2 RBI's, missing the cycle by just a home run for the Saints while Jake Fuller also had 3 hits at the bottom of the Seward order.  Connolly was 2 for 4 with 3 RBI's and a run scored for the Saints as well.  Saints starter Pete Macke lasted just 2 2/3 innings, allowing 2 hits and 2 runs while walking 6 and striking out 1 in a no decision.  Derrick Valenzuela took the loss out of the bullpen, giving up a pair of runs in 1 1/3 innings of work. 

SEWARD COUNTY/CLOUD COUNTY GAME FOUR BOX SCORE

The split marks the first time in eight seasons that the Saints did not win the season series with Cloud County.  Seward falls to 27-23 overall on the season and 15-13 in Jayhawk West play where they have now put themselves in an uphill battle to be at home for the 1^st round of the Region VI Tournament in two weeks.  Cloud County improves to 14-29 overall and 9-19 in conference action after the sweep and all but secures their entry into the Region VI Tournament with a three game lead on 8^th place. 

Seward will venture out of conference action on Wednesday when they travel to Frank Phillips for a 3:00 contest before finishing their Jayhawk West slate on the road at Butler on Saturday and Sunday.