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Mustangs top Ricebirds in late innings
Lamar took an opening lead in the bottom of the second inning. Landon Appling, El Campo's starting pitcher, held off the Mustangs through the first out in the second inning. He walked two batters, who eventually came in for runs, but prevented Lamar from a big rally in the next few at-bats. He got the final two outs of the inning by forcing Lamar's batters to hit into ground balls. Appling held the Mustangs scoreless over the next two innings. He earned two strikeouts in the third and fourth innings and held Lamar hitless to give El Campo a chance to take the lead. The 'Birds made a nice comeback in the top of the fifth to score three big runs. Michael Van Gorp led the inning off by claiming first on an error by Lamar's shortstop and Matt Janke came in to run the bases in his place. Andrew Kinder followed with a fly out to the catcher. Chris Quinn reached base to put runners on second and third base. Tyler Socha hit into the second out of the inning, but Blake Korenek came up strong for the Ricebirds. Korenek connected for a single to score Janke and put Quinn on third base. Appling was hit by a wild pitch in the next at-bat and loaded the bases for El Campo's clean-up hitter, Matthew Hamman. The Ricebirds took the lead with one swing. Hamman crushed a double to center field and Quinn and Korenek both scored. Bryan Skow tried to keep the scoring run moving with runners on second and third base. He hit a long shot to center field, but the Mustangs came up with a grab for the final out of the inning. El Campo took a temporary 3-2 lead over Lamar. The Mustangs moved back on top in the bottom of the inning. Four runs by the Mustangs erased El Campo's lead. Lamar's bats finally got into a groove. After fighting off the Mustang hitters through four innings, Appling ran into trouble. He allowed three runs in the inning and got one out before Skow relieved him. Skow allowed the fourth run before the final two batters hit into ground balls to Holden Whitley, who covered third base. Whitley made nice throws over to Hamman at first for the two outs, but the damage was done. Lamar took a 6-3 lead. El Campo answered with one run in the top of the sixth inning. Whitley hit into a ground ball at shortstop and was thrown out at first to start the inning. The next at-bat was a mighty blow. Van Gorp sent a shot deep over the Mustangs' outfield wall for a solo home run and cut Lamar's lead to 6-3. The Ricebirds had a chance to rally back but fell short in the inning. Kinder hit a single into right field and took second on a passed ball in the next at-bat. Quinn walked to put runners on first and second base and bring up the top of El Campo's batting order. The next two batters earned outs with a strikeout and deep fly ball to left field and the inning ended with the Ricebirds down 6-4. Lamar's lead grew in the bottom of the inning with five runs. Down 11-4, the Ricebirds needed a large rally in the top of the seventh to have any chance at a win. Appling claimed first base after he was hit by a wild pitch. He later stole second base, but that was as far as he got that inning. The next three batters earned outs and Lamar claimed victory over the 'Birds 11-4. El Campo fell to 1-4 in district play and 6-9 on the season. The Ricebirds hosted Terry Tuesday night for the beginning of a series of back-to-back games with their opponents. The team will travel to Terry Friday to complete their series with the Rangers. Next week, El Campo will travel to Bay City Tuesday and host the Blackcats Friday. RICEBIRD STATS
EC Pitching Landon Appling - 4.1 innings, 2 hits, 5 earned runs, 2 strikeouts EC Top Hitters Matthew Hamman - 4 at-bats, 0 runs, 1 hit (double), 2 RBIs Michael Van Gorp - 3 at-bats, 1 runs, 1 hits (home run), 1 RBI |
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