Baseball Drop Two In Sunday Finale In Missouri
FAYETTE, MO. - After earning a split on Saturday, the Broncos baseball team would go 0-2 in their Sunday rematches vs Roosevelt, 8-2, and No. 22 Central Methodist, 8-3.
In their morning game against the Roosevelt Lakers, the Broncos would open the floodgates with Jaden Stone reaching on a walk, then stealing second and advancing on an errant throw by the catcher. This all set up Tyler Welsh perfectly, as he would switch bases with Stone on a two-out, RBI triple to put the Broncos ahead, 1-0.
The Lakers would have a quick answer in the bottom of the first, getting runners on the corners with no outs before a fielder's choice knocked in the runner from third and knotting the game up, 1-1.
In the third inning, the Lakers would rinse and repeat, with a walk and single putting runners on the corners to set up an RBI-groundout. The next inning, the Lakers added a third run on an error. The big inning for the opposing Lakers came in the fifth, who got their first two batters on, then grounding into a fielder's choice at second, the last at-bat of the morning for Lane Harris. Max Smith would come in, walking the only three batters he faced that scored two runs, before Danny Wisor came in an gave up an RBI-sacrifice bunt, putting the Lakers ahead, 7-1
The Broncos would finally have an answer to the Lakers, as Matt Lucero would take a pitch to the body, then a trio of walks by Mason Masur, Alliskair Descartes, and Tristan Martinez scoring Lucero and cutting the deficit to 7-2.
Freshman Guillermo Metzler got his collegiate debut in the sixth inning, allowing an RBI-double, but forcing a 4-6-3 double play to get out of a jam.
Also making his collegiate debut was freshman Santo Chirco, who went 0-for-1, but had a loud and quality at-bat.
Harris finished with three earned runs on 5 hits and two walks in 4.1 innings, alongside Wisor and Metzler, who both limited the damage in the fifth and sixth innings.
For the bats, Welsh collected both of the Broncos hits, with Stone and Brody Severin both recording a team-leading two walks against Roosevelt.
In their second game against the hometown Eagles, the Broncos would have yet another strong top of the first, with Martinez getting a leadoff single, and a one-out, two-run home run from Masur to put the Broncos ahead, 2-0.
The Broncos would find trouble in a vengeful Eagles bats in the bottom of the first, as they would record back-to-back singles to leadoff the inning, followed by an RBI-double and a three-run homer to put the Eagles up, 4-2. The Eagles would add another three runs to their lead in the second and third innings.
Masur, Jared Delgado, and Eli Merritt got the Broncos back on the board again with back-to-back-to-back singles, with Merritt scoring Masur to make it a 7-3 contest.
In a funky play in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Eagles would steal second, also allowing the runner on third to steal home to give the Eagles their eventual 8-3 winning lead.
Markus Miller would go two innings pitched, allowing 6 runs. Cooper Gierhan would also come in for two innings of relief, giving up only a single run on three hits. Aaron Elgersma would come in for the fifth inning, allowing only one walk and striking out one, with Wisor finishing the game out in the sixth inning, giving up one run on one hit and a walk, while striking out two Eagles.
The Broncos will be in action again on Wednesday, when they travel down to Salina, Kansas, for one, nine inning game against No. 16 Kansas Wesleyan. First pitch is at 6pm.
