MAC taks step forward
By MATT KING\Daily Journal Sports Writer
Apr 25, 2005 - 12:35:08 CDT
HILLSBORO - The surging Mineral Area College baseball program took another big step forward on Sunday against one of its most imposing and long-standing nemeses.
Not only were geographic bragging rights on the line when the Cardinals traveled to Hillsboro for a triple-header against Jefferson College, but for the first time in several years, conference championship and region tournament seeding implications hung in the balance as well.
MAC solidified its status as a post-season contender and moved back above the .500 mark overall by winning two of the three contests played, evening the season series against the Vikings at two wins each.
Game one was officially the completion of a suspended game which began in Park Hills. A home run by Kenny Pikula helped the Cardinals take a 3-2 lead before rain stopped the action back on April 12.
Mineral Area had runners at first and second with one out in the bottom of third inning as the battle resumed on Sunday, and immediately went to work offensively. After Scott Hubbard scored on an error to give the Cardinals a two-run lead, Michael Hall and Ryan Dickerman delivered back-to-back singles to increase the margin to 5-2, which turned out to be the final score.
Freshman Jeff Scott pitched the first three innings in Park Hills, and would finish what he started in stellar fashion for Mineral Area, shutting out the Vikings on two hits while striking out five over the final four innings.
MAC could not muster a hit over the last three innings against pitcher Joseph Hagerty, opening the door for Jefferson (25-14) to mount a dangerous scoring threat in the seventh inning. However, the first of many bizarre plays to occur during the three-game marathon would quickly end it.
The bases were loaded with one out when Robbie Moore hit a sinking line drive to left field. Pikula battled a difficult wind to make a sliding catch, then threw the ball to second base for a game-ending double play when a Jefferson base runner failed to tag up.
Scott also took the mound for the start of game two, and continued to baffle the Jefferson offense with a variety of off-speed pitches. The Cardinals struggled more mightily at the plate against right-hander Ian Murray with just four total hits, but Marty Clements scored on a double play in the fifth inning for the game's lone run as MAC escaped with a 1-0 triumph.
Clements went 2-for-2 with a walk to help Scott earn his second win of the day and third of the season. Scott scattered five hits and struck out three over four innings. Jeremy Warren tossed three scoreless frames in relief to earn a solid save.
The Vikings collected seven hits during game two, including a pair from Brandon Flood, but horrendous base running would again play a major part in their undoing.
A wild bottom of the fifth inning began when Flood was called safe with an infield single, even though Hubbard appeared to have made the throw from third base in time after making a fantastic diving stop. Michael Rodgers then bunted for a hit, putting men at first and second with no outs.
The Cardinals caught a break of their own on a questionable call when the ensuing batter bunted into a close force out at third, but events would only turn crazier from there.
Moore smashed a tailing drive to right field, which eluded the outstretched glove of Clements. Moore rounded first base and raced toward second, which was still occupied after the two lead runners waited for the baseball to drop in the outfield. Clements alertly threw back to first to retire Moore, who was scrambling back to the base when Rodgers suddenly broke from third in an attempt to score the game-tying run.
First baseman Tyler Stahl quickly fired a strike to catcher Aaron Miller, who applied the tag to Rodgers for the final out of the inning. Jefferson would pick up a lead-off single in the seventh, but that runner was caught stealing, enabling the Cardinals to hold on for their seventh consecutive victory.
Mineral Area appeared to be on its way to another win after grabbing a 3-0 lead in game three, but the Vikings capitalized on two key errors and some timely hits to salvage an 8-3 win.
Singles by Dickerman and Becker gave the Cardinals an excellent start to the first inning against Jefferson ace Chad Thall. Stahl ripped a RBI double down the left field line and Becker scored on a wild pitch to vault MAC into a 2-0 lead.
Becker blasted his team-leading third home run through the wind and over the left-center fence in the third inning to stretch the margin to 3-0, highlighting a 2-for-3 performance for the sophomore with two runs scored.
MAC starter Blake Jones retired the first six batters he faced, but struggled from there, giving up four earned runs on six hits before departing in the fifth inning.
After Moore delivered Jefferson's first run of the afternoon with a RBI hit in the third, Devin Lally cut the MAC advantage to 3-2 with a single during a two-run fourth. Flood stole third and raced home on a dropped throw to even the score.
The Cardinal offense wasted a lead-off triple by Pikula in the top of the fourth, and never recovered against Thall, who improved his record to a perfect 9-0 on the strength of seven strikeouts over six innings.
Jefferson sent 11 batters to the plate and scored five runs in the fifth to break the game open. The bases were loaded with one out when a routine force play at home plate was thrown away, allowing two men to score.
Lally then capped a 2-for-3 game with a two-run double to right to widen the gap to 7-3. Alex Arango added a RBI single to complete the scoring.
Dustin Renfrow pitched a perfect seventh inning to close out the win for the Vikings, topping out at 91 miles per hour on the radar gun. Cory Grewe threw one and one-third scoreless innings of relief in his hometown for MAC.
Mineral Area (23-22) is currently 15-7 in MCCAC play. The Cardinals will play their final home games of the season in a double-header against Shawnee on Thursday before traveling to St. Louis on Saturday to wrap up conference play against Meramec.
Jefferson 002 000 0 - 2 7 1
Mineral Area 122 000 X - 5 6 0
Jefferson:
Hitting - Skyles 2, Moore, Merritt, Bone, Garcia, Flood. 2b - Flood.
Pitching - Alicea (L) 1i 3r 3h 1k 3bb, Backs 1 1/3i 2r 1er 1h 1k 1bb, Hagerty 3 2/3i 0r 2h 1k 2bb.
Mineral Area:
Hitting - Dickerman 2, Hubbard, Pikula, Horrell, Hall. 2b - Hubbard, Horrell, Dickerman. HR - Pikula (1).
Pitching - Scott (W) 7i 2r 7h 5k 2bb 2hp.
Mineral Area 000 010 0 - 1 4 0
Jefferson 000 000 0 - 0 7 0
Mineral Area:
Hitting - Clements 2, Becker, Hubbard. 2b - Clements
Pitching - Scott (W) 4i 0r 5h 3k 1bb, Warren (SV) 3i 0r 2h 1k 1bb.
Jefferson:
Hitting - Flood 2, Rodgers, McDaniel, Merritt, Skyles, Moore. 2b - Flood.
Pitching - Murray (L) 5i 1r 3h 3k 3bb, Sparks 2i 0r 1h 2k 0bb.
Mineral Area 201 000 0 - 3 5 2
Jefferson 001 250 X - 8 8 0
Mineral Area:
Hitting - Becker 2, Dickerman, Pikula, Stahl. 2b - Stahl. 3b - Pikula. HR - Becker (3).
Pitching - Jones (L) 4i 5r 6h 3k 2bb 1hp, Warren 2/3i 3r 2h 0k 1bb 2hp, Grewe 1 1/3i 0r 0h 0k 0bb 1hp.
Jefferson:
Hitting - Lally 2, Moore, Skyles, McDaniel, Flood, Plackemeier, Arango. 2b - Lally, Plackemeier.
Pitching - Thall (W) 6i 3r 5h 7k 1bb, Renfrow 1i 0r 0h 0k 0bb.
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Not only were geographic bragging rights on the line when the Cardinals traveled to Hillsboro for a triple-header against Jefferson College, but for the first time in several years, conference championship and region tournament seeding implications hung in the balance as well.
MAC solidified its status as a post-season contender and moved back above the .500 mark overall by winning two of the three contests played, evening the season series against the Vikings at two wins each.
Game one was officially the completion of a suspended game which began in Park Hills. A home run by Kenny Pikula helped the Cardinals take a 3-2 lead before rain stopped the action back on April 12.
Mineral Area had runners at first and second with one out in the bottom of third inning as the battle resumed on Sunday, and immediately went to work offensively. After Scott Hubbard scored on an error to give the Cardinals a two-run lead, Michael Hall and Ryan Dickerman delivered back-to-back singles to increase the margin to 5-2, which turned out to be the final score.
Freshman Jeff Scott pitched the first three innings in Park Hills, and would finish what he started in stellar fashion for Mineral Area, shutting out the Vikings on two hits while striking out five over the final four innings.
MAC could not muster a hit over the last three innings against pitcher Joseph Hagerty, opening the door for Jefferson (25-14) to mount a dangerous scoring threat in the seventh inning. However, the first of many bizarre plays to occur during the three-game marathon would quickly end it.
The bases were loaded with one out when Robbie Moore hit a sinking line drive to left field. Pikula battled a difficult wind to make a sliding catch, then threw the ball to second base for a game-ending double play when a Jefferson base runner failed to tag up.
Scott also took the mound for the start of game two, and continued to baffle the Jefferson offense with a variety of off-speed pitches. The Cardinals struggled more mightily at the plate against right-hander Ian Murray with just four total hits, but Marty Clements scored on a double play in the fifth inning for the game's lone run as MAC escaped with a 1-0 triumph.
Clements went 2-for-2 with a walk to help Scott earn his second win of the day and third of the season. Scott scattered five hits and struck out three over four innings. Jeremy Warren tossed three scoreless frames in relief to earn a solid save.
The Vikings collected seven hits during game two, including a pair from Brandon Flood, but horrendous base running would again play a major part in their undoing.
A wild bottom of the fifth inning began when Flood was called safe with an infield single, even though Hubbard appeared to have made the throw from third base in time after making a fantastic diving stop. Michael Rodgers then bunted for a hit, putting men at first and second with no outs.
The Cardinals caught a break of their own on a questionable call when the ensuing batter bunted into a close force out at third, but events would only turn crazier from there.
Moore smashed a tailing drive to right field, which eluded the outstretched glove of Clements. Moore rounded first base and raced toward second, which was still occupied after the two lead runners waited for the baseball to drop in the outfield. Clements alertly threw back to first to retire Moore, who was scrambling back to the base when Rodgers suddenly broke from third in an attempt to score the game-tying run.
First baseman Tyler Stahl quickly fired a strike to catcher Aaron Miller, who applied the tag to Rodgers for the final out of the inning. Jefferson would pick up a lead-off single in the seventh, but that runner was caught stealing, enabling the Cardinals to hold on for their seventh consecutive victory.
Mineral Area appeared to be on its way to another win after grabbing a 3-0 lead in game three, but the Vikings capitalized on two key errors and some timely hits to salvage an 8-3 win.
Singles by Dickerman and Becker gave the Cardinals an excellent start to the first inning against Jefferson ace Chad Thall. Stahl ripped a RBI double down the left field line and Becker scored on a wild pitch to vault MAC into a 2-0 lead.
Becker blasted his team-leading third home run through the wind and over the left-center fence in the third inning to stretch the margin to 3-0, highlighting a 2-for-3 performance for the sophomore with two runs scored.
MAC starter Blake Jones retired the first six batters he faced, but struggled from there, giving up four earned runs on six hits before departing in the fifth inning.
After Moore delivered Jefferson's first run of the afternoon with a RBI hit in the third, Devin Lally cut the MAC advantage to 3-2 with a single during a two-run fourth. Flood stole third and raced home on a dropped throw to even the score.
The Cardinal offense wasted a lead-off triple by Pikula in the top of the fourth, and never recovered against Thall, who improved his record to a perfect 9-0 on the strength of seven strikeouts over six innings.
Jefferson sent 11 batters to the plate and scored five runs in the fifth to break the game open. The bases were loaded with one out when a routine force play at home plate was thrown away, allowing two men to score.
Lally then capped a 2-for-3 game with a two-run double to right to widen the gap to 7-3. Alex Arango added a RBI single to complete the scoring.
Dustin Renfrow pitched a perfect seventh inning to close out the win for the Vikings, topping out at 91 miles per hour on the radar gun. Cory Grewe threw one and one-third scoreless innings of relief in his hometown for MAC.
Mineral Area (23-22) is currently 15-7 in MCCAC play. The Cardinals will play their final home games of the season in a double-header against Shawnee on Thursday before traveling to St. Louis on Saturday to wrap up conference play against Meramec.
Jefferson 002 000 0 - 2 7 1
Mineral Area 122 000 X - 5 6 0
Jefferson:
Hitting - Skyles 2, Moore, Merritt, Bone, Garcia, Flood. 2b - Flood.
Pitching - Alicea (L) 1i 3r 3h 1k 3bb, Backs 1 1/3i 2r 1er 1h 1k 1bb, Hagerty 3 2/3i 0r 2h 1k 2bb.
Mineral Area:
Hitting - Dickerman 2, Hubbard, Pikula, Horrell, Hall. 2b - Hubbard, Horrell, Dickerman. HR - Pikula (1).
Pitching - Scott (W) 7i 2r 7h 5k 2bb 2hp.
Mineral Area 000 010 0 - 1 4 0
Jefferson 000 000 0 - 0 7 0
Mineral Area:
Hitting - Clements 2, Becker, Hubbard. 2b - Clements
Pitching - Scott (W) 4i 0r 5h 3k 1bb, Warren (SV) 3i 0r 2h 1k 1bb.
Jefferson:
Hitting - Flood 2, Rodgers, McDaniel, Merritt, Skyles, Moore. 2b - Flood.
Pitching - Murray (L) 5i 1r 3h 3k 3bb, Sparks 2i 0r 1h 2k 0bb.
Mineral Area 201 000 0 - 3 5 2
Jefferson 001 250 X - 8 8 0
Mineral Area:
Hitting - Becker 2, Dickerman, Pikula, Stahl. 2b - Stahl. 3b - Pikula. HR - Becker (3).
Pitching - Jones (L) 4i 5r 6h 3k 2bb 1hp, Warren 2/3i 3r 2h 0k 1bb 2hp, Grewe 1 1/3i 0r 0h 0k 0bb 1hp.
Jefferson:
Hitting - Lally 2, Moore, Skyles, McDaniel, Flood, Plackemeier, Arango. 2b - Lally, Plackemeier.
Pitching - Thall (W) 6i 3r 5h 7k 1bb, Renfrow 1i 0r 0h 0k 0bb.