BISMARCK, N.D. – Late inning letdowns left the University of Mary on the short end of two games at the Tucson Invitational. The Marauders opened Wednesday with a 3-0 loss to Indiana Wesleyan University before closing with a 6-2 setback against Northern State University.
GAME 1: Indiana Wesleyan 3 U-Mary 0
A pitchers duel between Nick Stobbe of the Marauders (1-9) and Kennen Barnett of the Warriors (3-5) turned in the seventh inning on small ball.
Looking to break open the game in the top of the first, the first three U-Mary batters reached base but none scored, in large part to a double play on a line out. A Marauders threat in the second also came up short as the Warriors turned their second of four double plays.
Just as the Marauders had troubles converting offensively, so did the Warriors. Indiana Wesleyan left two runners on base in each of the first, second and fifth innings. The sixth inning ended on a double play grounder to short.
The seventh inning was the turning point as the Warriors plated all three runs in the game with the aid of three base hits than never left the infield. Following a one-out bunt single by Caleb Birkey, a wild pickoff thrown moved him third. Preston Fugita walked to place runners on the corner and a Cameron Screeton bunt single scored Birkey with the first run of the game. A single by Craig Nesselhuf to center field knocked home the second run before the final counter crossed home play on a sacrifice fly into the foul territory behind first base.
Refusing to quit, the Marauders placed two runners in base in the eighth and three in the ninth. Both scoring efforts failed when the Warriors turned two in both innings.
Eight different Marauders had hits in the game. Indiana Wesleyan had two players with three hits each, Thomas Barnes and Caleb Birkey.
Stobbe went a career high seven innings, allowing ten hits and three walks for three runs. He also struck out six.
Barnett went eight scoreless innings for IWU, limiting the Marauders to eight hits and no runs, walking two and striking out four.
Matt Blankenship pitched a scoreless ninth for the save.
Game 2: Northern State 6 U-Mary 2
Unlike the opener, it was the Marauders who struck first and used the double play to keep the Wolves (1-1) in check.
U-Mary opened the scoring in the fourth, scoring twice on just one hit. After
Trenten Hove was hit by a pitch to open the inning,
Seth Meide earned a one-out walk. Both advanced into scoring position on a wild pitch, allowing Hove to score on a sacrifice fly to center field by
Sean Hennen.
Will Pettener then delivered a run-scoring double to left for a 2-0 Marauders lead.
Using twin killings in the first and third innings, junior lefthander
McKeon Meyhoff kept the Wolves off the scoreboard until the fourth inning. A leadoff double by Matt Stubbs was followed by a run-scoring single by Riley Shintaffer. The Marauders then turned their third double play in four innings to remain in front 2-1.
A pair of two out hits in the sixth scored two runs for Northern State. After Jordan Goracke had a run-scoring pinch hit single to knot the game, Buddy Traxler followed with an RBI double that knocked in the game-winning run.
U-Mary threatened to retake the lead in the eighth. After Hennen led off the inning with a double, Pettener was hit by a pitch. Both Marauders were advanced into scoring position on a
Drew Feuerbach sacrifice bunt but U-Mary failed to drive in at least one of the Marauders runners.
Spearheaded by a bunt single on what was a sacrifice attempt and a triple when a ball was lost in the air, the Wolves pushed the game out of reach with three runs in the eighth inning.
Meyhoff allowed just three earned runs in six innings, walking two and striking out five and walking two.
Hennen finished 2-for-2 with a walk, sacrifice fly and an RBI. U-Mary totaled just five hits.
Stubbs and Shintaffer both were 3-for-4 for the Wolves with two runs scored. Shintaffer also had an RBI. Traxler added two hits, including the game-winning double.
Colten Boucher picked up the win, allowing two runs in six innings. He gave up two hits and four walks while striking out six. Marcus Manderbach recorded the last out of the game to claim a save.
The Marauders return to the field with a single game against Northwestern College on March 5 at 2:30 p.m. CST.
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