Baseball Steals Victory from Park to Finish Off Sweep

Doane Baseball used a steal of home late in game two as the Tigers rallied and capped off a four-game sweep of Park (Mo.) on Monday afternoon. The Tigers rolled in the first game of the day, 17-1, and posted a 7-5 win in game two. Doane improved to 11-3 on the season after the four-game sweep of the Pirates.

In the opening game, Doane took advantage of an error to plate their first two runs. The Tigers had runners at 2nd and 3rd base when a ground ball was hit to the Park third baseman. Brett Meyer was at 3rd base and bluffed a move to home, drawing the attention of the third baseman and delaying a throw across the diamond. Justin Nevells broke hard out of the batters box, forcing a hurried throw after the check of Meyer at third and the throw was sent down the right field line to bring in the two base runners.

In the second inning, Nate Mensik scored on a passed ball with Joe Osborn scoring in the third inning on a wild pitch. The Pirates scored their lone run in the fourth inning on a RBI-single.

Doane's first RBI-hit in the game came in the 5th inning on an Osborn single. Narumi Okayasu later added a two-run single which was followed by an RBI-single by Jack Tillman. After a pitching change, Mensik plated a run with a groundout and James Griess tripled to drive in two runs. Lukas White singled to plate the final run of the inning as eight runs crossed the plate.

Logan Amick added an RBI-single in the sixth inning for a 13-1 lead. In the seventh, Doane plated four more runs. Nevells and Cristian Yanez drew bases loaded walks and Tilman plated a run with a sacrifice. Amick doubled in the final run.

For the game, Osborn was 3-for-3 with two walks, scoring four runs  and driving in one. White and Amick added two hits apiece. Four players drove in two runs apiece.

Benefiting from the offensive output was Kaden Crawford. He went 5.0 innings, allowing one run on four hits while striking out five to pick up his second win of the season. Raidyn Steele threw 2.0 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out two.

After a scoreless first inning in game two, the Tigers pushed three runs across the plate in the second inning. Mensik had an RBI-double to score the first run. Griess was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to score the next run. The final run in the inning came across as Mensik scored on a wild pitch.

Park, however, responded with five runs to take their first lead of the weekend. Three runs scored on RBI-hits while the fourth scored on a fielder's choice and the final one crossed the plate on a Tiger error.

Doane cut their deficit in half with an RBI-double by Nevells in the fifth inning. Trailing 5-4 going into the sixth inning, Luke LaChance led off with a single and moved to second on an error. Mensik followed with a bunt single and then caught the Pirate defense not covering second base and raced down to the bag with a steal. On an ensuing pitch, the throw back to the pitcher was wild and LaChance scored the tying run. A ground out moved Mensik to third base and with two outs, he took off for home on the pitch. The ball was in the dirt and Mensik slid in safely at the plate to steal home and give the Tigers the lead.

In the seventh, Yanez added some insurance with an RBI-single to score Nevells on a successful hit-and-run. In the bottom of the inning, Park loaded the bases with one out but a ground ball to Nevells resulted in a game-ending double play.

Starting for the Tigers on the mound was Haldon Craig. He went 1.1 innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on three hits and three walks while striking out one. Kyler Beekman came in and limited the Pirates over 5.2 innings. He allowed four hits and three walks while striking out three.

Doane was held to five hits in the game and drew only two walks but took advantage of their opportunities as the Pirates committed five errors. Mensik was 2-for-3 with two runs scored, two stolen bases, and an RBI. LaChance also scored two runs in the game.

The Tigers are scheduled to take the field on their home diamond on March 14 when they play host to McPherson at 1 PM.