Lions squander strong pitching

May 03, 2008 11:48 pm

— By Jim Henry
jhenry@joplinglobe.com
Small ball paid huge dividends for Central Missouri.
Three bunts to start the eighth inning put two runners in scoring position, and Balin Bergman’s bases-loaded triple capped a four-run spree as the No. 23-ranked Mules downed Missouri Southern 4-0 Saturday afternoon in the opener of a four-game series at Joe Becker Stadium.
Blaine Rutledge and Luis Perez drove in two runs apiece, and Jared “Boomer” Potts allowed four hits in six innings as the Mules won the nightcap 6-2.
The Lions’ Matthew Mantle (2-7) and the Mules’ Mark Carey (8-1) matched seven scoreless innings in the opener. Mantle allowed four hits, struck out three and hit one batter in his seven innings, while Carey gave up three hits, fanned four and hit one.
“Without question it was Mantle’s best outing of the year,” Lions coach Bryce Darnell said. “He had a good outing last weekend as well. We just didn’t pick the ball up for him on defense.”
“There were lots of strikes, and when you do that, it makes it tough to hit,” Mules head coach Tom Myers said. “Pitchers are getting ahead of hitters and able to throw a second pitch for strikes. I thought Matt did a great job with his changeup, keeping us off balance and not letting us sit on anything hard down the middle of the plate. Both pitchers did a great job. I thought Matt was outstanding.”
Derek Ezell’s leadoff double to right gave the Lions a threat to win in the seventh. Jeff Katchmar struck out attempting to sacrifice before Fernando Lugo’s grounder up the middle, which likely would have gone through a drawn-in infield, was fielded by Brian McBryde behind second. McBryde threw out Lugo at first as pinch-runner Eric Clark advanced to third, but Carey fanned Gabe Wyatt to end the inning.
Clay Weatherford began the Mules’ eighth with a bunt single up the third-base line, and Will Feil’s bunt was bobbled by third baseman Wyatt for an error. McBryde also bunted toward third, and Wyatt threw him out. The Lions intentionally walked Blaine Rutledge to load the bases, and Wyatt moved to his left to grab Iain Dykins’ chopper and throw to catcher Lee Hall for the forceout on Weatherford.
Mike Hallam then walked on a 3-1 pitch to force in Feil with the game’s first run before Bergman cleared the bases with his triple to right-center field.
Two walks and Hall’s single loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the eighth before reliever Chris Matlock retired Clark on a popup to second for his seventh save.
The Lions’ other hits were doubles by Juan Hernandez in the first and Wyatt in the fifth and Hall’s infield hit in the third.
“It was a great college game,” Darnell said. “From a coach’s standpoint though, we didn’t execute, period. We easily could have won that game two times. We get a leadoff double in the seventh inning, the last inning. It’s unacceptable that we didn’t get him around to score. And that’s why you get beat.”
Potts (6-4), a senior left-hander who prepped at Wyandotte, Okla., fanned four, walked two and hit one in the nightcap.
Hernandez had two of the four hits for the Lions (18-32, 15-19 MIAA), including an RBI single in the third, and Ezell hit an opposite-field homer to right, his seventh of the year, leading off the sixth.
The Mules (37-13, 25-7) scored twice in the first inning off Tyler Lipscomb (4-7). Feil’s single to center and McBryde’s double that bounced off the third-base bag preceded Rutledge’s RBI groundout and Hallam’s two-out RBI single. Rutledge doubled home another run in the seventh.
The Lions threatened in the fifth but second baseman Chris Brown threw out Katchmar at the plate on a relay from shallow right field. Brown then doubled home a run in the sixth and came home on Luis Perez’s home run to right-center, his eighth.
The Lions end their season today with a 1 p.m. twinbill against the Mules.

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