Dodge City baseball played too a doubleheader split against Butler at home to wrap up the series against the Grizzlies, claiming victory 7-1 in game one and falling 6-3 in game two.
The split moves the Conquistadors to 26-26 on the season and 16-11 in KJCCC which is one more conference win than last season.
The regular season wraps up next week as the Conqs will take on Cloud County and head into the final week in contention for a first-round home playoff series. The series will start in Dodge City on Thursday, May 4th with a doubleheader starting at 1:00 pm before transitioning to Concordia on Saturday, May 6th.
Game 1 – Won 7-1 vs Butler
The Conqs got a complete game performance from Justus Revill in game one to help propel them past Butler and put together some solid offense in the middle innings to grab the win. Butler snagged a run in the first inning on a pair of walks and an error but the Grizzlies would muster only five more base runners for the remainder of the game. The Conqs got on the board in the third on an RBI single by Donnie Rhyne tying the game at 1-1. In the bottom of the fourth, the Conqs would plate five runs with RBI singles coming from Cooper Schneider, Ethan Hewell, and Rhyne to highlight the inning. Conqs added on another run in the sixth and went on to turn a double play to finish the game in the top of the seventh to win 7-1.
The Conqs out-hit Butler 9-3 in the contest and were led by Justus Revill's complete game in which he tossed seven innings giving up one unearned run on three hits, three walks, and a hit batter while striking out a career-high 13 batters.
At the plate, the Conqs saw Rhyne go 2-3 with two RBI and a walk, while Zandt Payne was 1-2 with two runs scored, a hit by pitch, and a walk. Hewell, Schneider, and Alex Galyean each had an RBI single in the win.
Game 2 – Lost 6-3 vs Butler
The Conqs would take the early lead in game two scoring two runs in the bottom of the first inning as they worked the bases loaded and, on a groundout, would score a run, and then an RBI single by Brian Hallum brought in another. Butler got on the board in the third with a run, but the Conqs push the lead back to two runs in the fourth with an RBI single by Payne to make it 3-1. Butler tallied a run in the fifth and then another in the sixth to tie the game at 3-3 but the Grizzlies would leave the bases loaded in the sixth as they looked to snag the lead. The game remained tied until the ninth inning when Butler took worked the bases loaded and took advantage of three Conq errors to score three runs. In the bottom of the ninth, the Conqs got a runner but would not be able to score falling 6-3 in the series finale.
Conqs would out-hit Butler in the loss 13-9. Hallum paced the Conqs offense going 4-4 with an RBI and walk, while Galyean was 3-5 with a run scored. Nick Mesquita finished 2-4 with a run scored, while Carson Wright, Payne, Caden Matlon, and Hewell each had a hit.
On the mound, Shea Walker tossed a solid five innings and took a no-decision, while Hallum tossed 3.1 innings of relief picking up six strikeouts giving up just one hit and one walk, along with three unearned runs.
