Baseball splits series with Fort Hays Tigers
by Mark Held
The Metropolitan
Metro baseball (22-23-1, 9-11 RMAC) split a high scoring, four-game series against Fort Hays State (28-16, 10-11 RMAC) in which the teams combined for 76 runs.
Senior pitcher Blake Eager started the first game and pitched effectively for eight innings.
After the fifth, Eager and the 'Runners held a 10-5 lead that stood until a solo homer in the bottom of the eighth cut the lead to four. With Eager out of the ball game, Fort Hays tried to take advantage by rallying in the bottom of the ninth.
Junior pitcher Jess Jacobs came in at the start of the ninth and was immediately greeted with a double to center. Jacobs was able to strike out the next hitter he faced, but it was his only success. Next, Jacobs hit a batter and walked another before being pulled from the game in favor of junior pitcher Sergio Moreno. With the bases loaded, Moreno was called for a balk, which scored a run and cut the Metro lead to three. After an error, a single and a fielder's choice, Moreno faced a first and third situation up by only a run. The pitcher rose to the occasion by striking out the last batter to secure the Metro win 10-9.
Saturday, April 24, Metro sent senior pitcher Brad Swartzlander to the mound to stall the Tiger attack that began to heat up at the end of the first game.
The game went back and forth the first four innings until Fort Hays took a 4-3 lead in the fourth on three doubles, scoring two runs. The Tigers put up seven runs in the next three innings to take an 11-6 lead. Needing runs badly, the Metro offense came through in the eighth with a key two-out rally.
After junior infielder Russell Floyd sandwiched a single between two 'Runners' fly outs, it seemed as if the threat would stall. Junior left fielder Phil Francis singled and both runners advanced a base on a wild pitch. The next three Metro batters doubled to score four runs and cut the Tiger lead to one. In the bottom of the eighth, Fort Hays tacked on three of their own to counter the Metro effort in the top of the inning. The 'Runners went in order in the ninth and fell by a score of 14-10.
The third game of the series lacked the drama of the first two as Fort Hays scored early and often. Metro was down 14-2 as the Tigers capped off the four-inning barrage with eight runs in the fourth. Sophomore pitcher Brady Carlson lasted only three and two-third innings giving up 10 runs--eight of them earned. Although Metro matched the 15 hits Fort Hays put up, they only managed to push six runners across the plate in their 16-6 loss. Down 2-1 in the series, Metro needed a win to come home with a split and some momentum after a disastrous third game. Senior pitcher Caleb Salankey came through with a solid pitching performance. Salankey went seven innings, giving up seven hits and only three earned runs while recording seven strikeouts. After four innings, the offensive outburst that defined the first three games disappeared as Metro trailed by a score of 2-1. Both teams broke out of the slump in the fifth, but Metro got the upper-hand scoring five in the fifth. Again, the rally came with two outs, started by Thorne's single to right. The big hit of the inning came on a three-run home run by Edwards. With the five-run inning, Metro took a 6-2 lead. Fort Hays tacked on two solo home runs in the bottom half of the inning, but Salankey allowed no more runs, finishing the game with a 7-4 Metro win.
The 'Runners have an outside chance of making the RMAC Tournament, but they will need some help from other teams along with a sweep of this weekend's opponent Nebraska-Kearney.
Wolfinger, who hit the first home run of his career against Hays, feels pretty good about Metro's chances.
"We split the series with a good team and feel like we can go into Kearney and sweep them this weekend," Wolfinger said.
"Although we need some help from other teams, we have to focus on the games we play."
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