Bees take two-of-three at McPherson
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
St. Ambrose (IA) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 1 |
|
McPherson | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 1 |
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
St. Ambrose (IA) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 4 |
|
McPherson | 4 | 4 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 3 | X | 22 | 18 | 1 |
Game 2
Game 2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
St. Ambrose (IA) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 10 | 0 |
|
McPherson | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
Jake Pauley and Eric Gonzalez drove in runs as part of a three-run ninth inning to rally St. Ambrose for a 6-5 win in the first game of a three-game weekend series at McPherson.
The Bees ultimately won the series by taking the final game 6-1 Sunday.
SAU was forced to rally in the opener Saturday after letting a 3-2 eighth-inning lead slip away. But after McPherson scored three times to take a 5-3 lead, St. Ambrose came right back.
Bryce Vorwald started the ninth by reaching on an error. Michael Rago was walked and both runners advanced on a wild pitch. Vorwald scored on Pauley's ground out. After moving to third on Quinn Flanagan's fly out, Rago tied the game on a passed ball. The inning continued as Mason Heitzler was hit by a pitch. He stole second and scored what proved to be the winning run on a double off the bat of Gonzalez.
Aidan Stratton retired the side in order in the ninth to close out the win.
Stratton earned the win with 1 2/3 innings of relief. Connor Bird allowed two runs over five innings before Jack Kerpan worked 2 1/3 innings before giving way to Stratton.
Vorwald finished with two hits. Matthew McBrien, Luke Brabham and Rago also had RBIs in the win.
Not much went right for the Bees in a 22-2 loss in the first game of Sunday's doubleheader. Heitzler, Michael Stupavsky, Mason Nauman and Peter Mitchell had SAU's four hits. Mitchell's single plated Danny Mouw in the sixth. Mouw also scored in the seventh on a wild pitch.
Brandon Cusack took the loss. Jimmy Traficanti, Ian McGhiey, Nathaniel Johnson, Davino Douvalakis, Ysen Useni and Caden Schwenker each pitched in relief.
St. Ambrose pounded out 10 hits in the series finale. Brabham had three of those hits. Filip Milatovic, Heitzler and Mitchell had two hits apiece.
Heitzler and Brabham had run-scoring doubles in the fifth to start the scoring. Milatovic had an RBI triple and Pauley an RBI single in the sixth to extend the lead to 4-1. As part of a two-run seventh, Rago scored on a wild pitch and Gonzalez score on a Flanagan sacrifice fly.
Dominic Guzman was dominant. He struck out nine while allowing only one run over six innings to get the win. Michael Moise struck out two in his one inning of work.
The Bees will play a three-game series at Huntington Friday and Saturday.