Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 DODGE CITY, Kan. -- The joy of
Ivan Gonzalez's walk-off home run in a 4-3 victory for the Dodge City Community College baseball team in game one was quickly terminated as Hutchinson bounced back in game two and took an early commanding lead to hand the Conquistadors a 12-7 loss and a split of Thursday's doubleheader at Cavalier Field.
After showing character in rallying from an early 2-0 deficit and bouncing back after Hutchinson tied the game with two outs in the seventh and final inning in game one, DC3 coach
Phil Stephenson felt like his team wasn't focused properly in game two.
"We can't do some of the things we do - we just get lazy with the turf sometimes," Stephenson said. "We try to pick balls instead of fundamentally doing things the right way. ... I just didn't like the way we finished playing in game two. I thought our energy level dropped and we lost any intensity that we had. The wind is blowing out at 35 mph so if you get a ball up it's going to get out of here, but you still have to work to square the ball up. We didn't do a good job of that in game two.
"Hopefully we learn from it and come back tomorrow ready because the wind is probably going to be worse."
In game one, the Conqs (33-11 overall, 14-8 KJCCC) fell behind 2-0 in the first inning before putting up three in the second inning on a
Jake Pederson RBI double, a bases-loaded walk to
Max Laney and an RBI fielder's choice by
Ricky Trammell to make it 3-2.
After the first-inning runs by Hutchinson (29-13, 18-8), DC3 starter
Jay Rawlins got rolling with five consecutive scoreless innings to take a 3-2 lead into the seventh.
However, with two outs and two strikes and a runner on third, Hutchinson's Michael Helman reached out and poked an RBI single to right to tie the game 3-3.
But that's when the left-handed hitting Gonzalez hit the first pitch from reliever Ben Wusterbarth over the right field wall to give the Conqs a 4-3 victory.
Rawlins got the win, going seven innings and giving up three runs (two earned) on seven hits with eight strikeouts and a walk.
Richard Fullerton and
Frankie Valle each finished 2-for-3 at the plate with a run for the Conqs.
Helman and
Josh Williams each had two hits for the Blue Dragons.
In game two Hutchinson got on the board in the second inning when Caden Doga hit the first of two home runs in the game for the KJCCC leader in round trippers as he now has 22 on the season.
The Conqs looked like they were going to get out of a jam in the third inning when starter
Layne Downing struck out Doga, but the ball bounced away from catcher
Colton Onstott, kept the inning alive and loaded the bases with the Blue Dragons up 1-0.
Downing followed with a walk to Williams before Brady Hoover hit a grand slam to make it 6-0 Hutchinson.
DC3 put up three in the third on a Fullerton RBI single and a Pederson two-run double to cut the lead to 6-3, but that's as close as the Conqs got before falling 12-7.
Downing got the loss, going 3.2 innings and giving up six runs (one earned) on seven hits with three strikeouts and a walk.
Onstott finished 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBI for the Conqs, Gonzalez went 1-for-4 with another home run and two RBI and Fullerton finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run.
Cory Cowen got the win in relief, going the final 6.1 innings and giving up four runs on six hits with seven strikeouts and a walk.
Doga finished 2-for-4 with two home runs, two RBI and four runs, Cole Donaldson went 3-for-5 while Shane Cooper, Helman and Hoover all had two hits apiece.
The Conqs and Blue Dragons play the final two games of the series starting at 1 p.m. Friday at Cavalier Field.
