By Richard Polen
sports@joplinglobe.com
The Joplin Outlaws allowed a well-pitched game to get away from them Sunday as the Ozark Generals came from behind for a 5-2 victory at the Joplin Athletic Complex.
Outlaws’ pitcher Taylor Fergerson, a left-hander from Fort Gibson, Okla., scattered seven hits and was leading 2-1 when he was removed with one out in the eighth inning.
The Generals responded by scoring twice in the eighth on singles by shortstop Chris Loveday and pinch-hitter Will Wright, a sacrifice bunt, a fielder’s choice and a passed ball. Ozark scored two more runs in the ninth inning.
“We played well, pitched the ball well, but just couldn’t get anything going,” said Outlaws head coach Chris Reddout. “It’s tough with the wind blowing straight in like this. We just couldn’t get the ball down when we needed to.”
The Outlaws had just three baserunners in the last five innings. The only hit was a two-out single by third baseman Skyler Rawlins in the eighth inning.
Kyle Westenfelt was the winner in relief for the Generals. Kyle Dyer, a right-hander from Missouri State University, pitched the ninth inning for the save.
The Outlaws broke a 1-1 tie with a run in the fourth inning on a two-out single by catcher Kyle Krager, a double by Joe Walton and a wild pitch that allowed Krager to score.
“We kept hitting it into the air,” said Spencer Barnett, the Outlaws’ shortstop and leadoff hitter. “It was tough hitting it over the outfielders today. Coach said it might be different if we had hit them on the ground.”
The victory gave the Generals a 2-1 edge in the three-game weekend series. Ozark won Friday night’s game 3-2 before the Outlaws’ 8-3 victory Saturday night snapped a four-game losing streak, all of which were one-run games.
“We were winning all those games early in the year,” Reddout said. “That’s baseball.”
The Outlaws have a seven-game road trip that begins Wednesday night at Clarinda, Iowa, before they return home July 1 to face the Nevada Griffons.
“Everybody that has beat us, we’ve beaten them,” Barnett said. “The North in the past has been pretty good. We’ll see where we stand in the other division.”
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Outlaws fall to Generals
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