Dodge City baseball took to the road on Thursday to open a four-game conference series with Garden City and played to a split of the doubleheader with the Broncbusters.
The Conquistadors dropped game one on the road 7-6 but bounced back and won game two 11-7 holding off Garden City in the contest.
The split moves the Conqs to 26-21 on the season and 13-13 in conference play.
Conqs continue the series with Garden City on Saturday, April 30
th with doubleheader starting at 1:00pm. It will be Sophomore Day with all Conq sophomores being recognized 20 minutes prior to game one on the day.
Game 1 – at Garden City lost 7-6
It was a strong start to the day for the Conqs as they worked an early run on the board and then
Kory Schmidt smacked a two-run home run to make it 3-0 Conqs before Garden City even had an opportunity to bat. Garden City found their first run plating one in the bottom of the second, but the Conqs made it a 6-1 lead in the top of the fourth with three runs as Schmidt once again highlighted the scoring notching a two RBI double. Garden City countered with three runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth and then three more in the fifth to take the lead and ultimately give the Broncbusters the 7-6 win.
In the loss Schmidt led the Conqs going 2-4 with a home run, double, run scored, and four RBI.
Camden Thrailkill finished 1-2 with a double, run scored, and walk, while
Aidan Proctor was 1-2 with a double, RBI, and walk.
Game 2 – at Garden City won 11-7
It was early runs for the Conqs again in game two, but unlike the first contest the Conqs used that early advantage to get past Garden City. In the top of the second the Conqs plated five runs with
Braden Dedrick leading off the inning with a triple and ultimately scoring the first run of the inning. Conqs worked the bases loaded and would tally multiple runs out of that situation on pair of fielder's choices, a hit by pitch, and an error.
James Dunlap added a solo home run in the third inning for the Conqs to lead 6-0. Garden City tallied their first runs in the bottom of third with two runs and then another in the sixth to make it 6-3. In the top of the seventh
Cale Blasi sent a ball out for a two-run home run making it 8-3, but Garden City countered with a three-run output in the bottom of the eighth to make it a two-run game. Looking for insurance runs the Conqs got that in the top of the ninth as Blasi blasted his second homer of the day and another run scored on a sacrifice fly. While Garden City managed a run in the bottom of the ninth, they only got one and the Conqs won 11-7.
On the mound
Zack Robinson started his first game this season and tossed 5.1 innings to earn the win giving up just three runs on seven hits and no walks, while striking out seven.
Tristan Wolf finished the game recording the final two-outs to earn the save.
At the plate Dunlap was 3-5 with a home run, double, three runs scored, and two RBI, while Blasi was 2-4 with two home runs, three runs scored, four RBI, and a walk.
Cooper Tomkinson added a 2-3 game with a run scored and two walks.
