After a split of the doubleheader on Thursday in Dodge City it was back to action for the Dodge City baseball team on Friday on the road in El Dorado to finish the series with Butler.
The Conquistadors would once again have a pair of tight battles on their hands and came away with the split in the doubleheader winning game one 10-8 and falling in 10 innings in game two 16-15 to ultimately split the four-game series.
With the split the Conqs move to 25-20 on the season and 12-12 in conference play.
Two conference series remain in the regular season for the Conqs as they will be back in action again starting a four-game series with Garden City on Thursday, April 28th on the road and then will host Garden City on Saturday, April 30th which will be sophomore day.
Game 1 – at Butler won 10-8
The series has been decided in close contests and game one in El Dorado went right along with the script. Butler took the initial lead scoring a run in the bottom of the first inning, but the Conqs countered as
Zandt Payne hit a double to open the second inning and scored on an RBI single by
Caden Matlon to tie the game at 1-1. Butler retook the lead in the bottom of the second behind three runs and it remained theirs until the top of the fourth. In the fourth the Conqs put together a six-run inning as
Trent Trammell and
Camden Thrailkill had back-to-back RBI singles to score a pair of runs and then
Trevor Blackwell blasted a grand slam later in the inning and the Conqs led 7-4. Butler got a run back in the bottom of the fourth and two in the fifth to make it 7-7 but the Conqs countered as they scored three in the sixth including a solo home run by
Jake Miller. Butler managed another run and had the tying runs on in the seventh, but the Conqs shut the door and grabbed the 10-8 win.
Blake Anderson earned the win on the mound tossing 6.1 innings, while
Justus Revill recorded the final two outs of the contest for the save. At the plate,
Aidan Proctor was 2-3 with two runs scored and a pair of stolen bases, while Trammell was 2-3 with a run scored and RBI.
Game 2 – at Butler lost 16-15 (10 innings)
The series finale proved to be a crazy contest and yet again another tight ball game. Butler struck first with a run in the bottom of the first, but the Conqs answered in a big way with five runs in the top of the second. A
Weston Symes RBI single and Proctor's three-run home run highlighted the five-run second inning. Butler would tally a run in the fourth, but the Conqs got a pair in the fifth to lead 7-2. In the bottom of the eighth Butler drew within one run by plating four to make it 7-6 entering the ninth inning. In the top of the ninth the Conqs added five runs to their output as Proctor had an RBI single,
Kory Schmidt added an RBI double, and Blackwell blasted a three-run home run to make it 12-6. Butler however would counter with a six-run output in the bottom of the ninth and push the game to extra innings. In the tenth, the Conqs worked a pair of base runners on and
Justin Dunlap came into pinch hit and belted a three-run homer to give the Conqs the lead back, but in the bottom of the tenth Butler answered as they scored two runs to make it 15-14 and then worked the bases loaded. With the bases loaded the lights went out at the ballpark and after a 30-minute delay the game continued, and Butler would notch a two-run single to take the game 16-15 in 10 innings.
Proctor led the offense as he was 4-6 with three runs scored, four RBI, a home run, and four stolen bases. Symes added a 2-5 showing with an RBI and run scored, while Trammell went 2-5 with a run scored. Schmidt finished 2-6 with a home run, double, two runs scored, and two RBI.
On the mound,
Tristan Wolf had a strong start tossing seven innings giving up just four runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out eight in a no-decision.
