Missed Chances Cost Saints in Yet Another Split

After winning a season high five straight games since their last Jayhawk West Conference series, it looked like the Seward County Saints were gaining some midseason momentum.  It looked even more that way after game one of their Jayhawk West series with Colby Friday afternoon at Brent Gould Field in Liberal as they picked up a solid 5-1 win over the Trojans.  But for the fourth straight conference doubleheader, after winning game one, Seward couldn't keep it going, missing numerous opportunities in a 7-5 game two loss to Colby to split the doubleheader. 

Looking for their sixth straight victory, the Saints got off to a good start in game one against the Trojans, scoring a pair of 1^st inning runs on an RBI single from Dillon Drury and a Colby passed ball at the plate to take an early 2-0 lead. 

The Trojans got a run back in the 2^nd, taking advantage of a Seward error to cut the Saints lead to 2-1. 

Seward answered with two more runs in the bottom of the 2^nd frame, getting a two out, two run single from Justin Graff-Rowe to stretch their lead to 4-1. 

It remained a 4-1 game to the bottom of the 4^th when Seward scored their fifth run of the game, using a leadoff double from Nic Ricigliano and a Colby error with one out in the inning to make it 5-1. 

Saints starter JB Olson did the rest from there, working around trouble in the 5^th and putting up goose eggs on the Trojans side in the 6^th and 7^th to close things out and give the Saints a 5-1 game one win. 

Seward had 11 hits in the opener, getting a 3 for 3 game from Ricigliano at the bottom of the order and 2 hits apiece from Brandon Urquizo and Williams in the win.  Olson went the distance in his seventh complete game of the season, scattering 7 hits and allowing just 1 unearned run while striking out 6 to improve to 6-3 on the year. 

SEWARD COUNTY/COLBY GAME ONE BOX SCORE

Colby took their first lead of the day early in game two of the twinbill, getting a two out double in the 1^st to get on the board to take a 1-0 advantage on the Saints.  

Seward struck back, scoring a run and reloading the bases with nobody out in the bottom half of the 1^st, but they were unable to push anything else across and it would come back to haunt them at the end of this one as the score remained tied 1-1. 

Saints starter Brent Bezio settled down the next two innings and kept Colby off the board in the 2^nd and 3^rd innings, but the Seward offense was quiet themselves, leaving runners in scoring position in both frames to keep it a 1-1 game. 

Patented Colby small ball gave the Trojans the lead back in the top half of the 4^th innings as Colby failed to hit the ball out of the infield, but managed to score two runs on a walk, a hit batter, a bunt single, and a safety squeeze to go back on top 3-1. 

As they did in the 1^st, the Saints answered again in the 4^th.  After two quick outs, Seward took advantage of a Colby error allowing them to extend the inning and scored three runs on RBI singles from Alex White and Graff-Rowe to reclaim the lead 4-3. 

The Seward lead didn't last long though as Colby struck right back against Bezio in the 5^th, scoring twice with two outs and chasing him from the game as they took a 5-4 lead. 

Colby was back at their game in the 6^th, using two singles and two sacrifice bunts to plate a run to make it 6-4 and that is where the score stood to stretch time at Brent Gould Field. 

The Saints had a golden opportunity to tie the game up in the 7^th, putting runners at second and third with nobody out, but unlike Colby, the Saints were unable to come through on the scoring chance and left both runners on base at innings end and they remained behind 6-4. 

 Seward got one run back in the 8^th on a two out single from Williams to make it a 6-5 game but a pair of free passes from the Saints pitching staff allowed Colby to score in the 9^th as they pushed their lead back to two at 7-5. 

The Saints once again had a chance to make some noise in their final at bats of the game as they put two on with one out, but a tailor made double play ended their threat and gave Colby the 7-5 win. 

The stats told a completely different story than the final score did in this one as Seward had 12 hits in the contest, Colby had 5 errors, and Saints pitching struck out 12 Trojan hitters, but in the end it was Colby with the last laugh with the 7-5 advantage on the scoreboard.  White finished 2 for 4 with 3 runs scored at the top of the Saints order while Urquizo, Williams, and Ricigliano each had 2 hits in the loss.  Bezio took the loss, failing to get out of the 5^th inning while allowing 7 hits and 5 earned runs to fall to 4-2 on the year. 

SEWARD COUNTY/COLBY GAME TWO BOX SCORE

The Saints continue to spin their wheels, splitting their fourth straight conference doubleheader to remain at .500 on the season at 18-18 overall and 9-9 in West play.  The split improves struggling Colby's standings as they go to 14-19 overall and 8-14 in league action. 

Seward and Colby will go at it again on Saturday with a 1:00 doubleheader to wrap up the four game set.