WNC Baseball: Road woes continue for Wildcats
Submitted by editor on Fri, 04/10/2015 - 6:05pm
The road certainly hasn't been kind to the Western Nevada College baseball team. After a difficult 11-6 loss to Salt Lake on Thursday, a game in which the Wildcats led 6-1 in the seventh inning, WNC didn't take advantage of a three-hitter by sophomore right-hander Max Karnos on Friday.
Salt Lake edged WNC, 3-2, in the opener, then used a four-run first inning en route to completing a Scenic West Athletic Conference baseball doubleheader sweep, 11-5, at Cate Field in West Jordan.
WNC has struggled on the road after leading the SWAC over most of the first half of the season, dropping six of seven games on its current swing away from home. After its eighth consecutive road game on Saturday, the Wildcats still must play its final eight SWAC games away from Carson City and the WNC John L. Harvey Field.
"They are giving everything they have and everything we ask, and that generally works out in the end," WNC coach D.J. Whittemore said.
Karnos (3-4) allowed just one earned run while striking out five and walking three. "He gave us a chance to win. At some point these guys are going to get tired of being credited with the loss," Whittemore said.
The 6-foot-4 right-hander took a one-hitter into the sixth inning, but Salt Lake loaded the bases with no one out. Garrett Bushman started the Bruin rally with a base hit, then stole second base. The rally received a definitive boost when Austin Ovard reached base while striking out on a wild pitch. Thursday's hero for Salt Lake, Zac Willis, then singled to load the bases. WNC first baseman Jon Guzman kept the score tied at 2 when he threw home on Chris Fougner's ground ball to force out Bushman, but the Wildcats couldn't turn a double play on Trevor Peterson's grounder, allowing Ovard to score the deciding run.
"The chopper to short was too high in the air to turn a double play," Whittemore said.
Salt Lake pushed two runs across the plate on just one hit in the third inning. An error, a passed ball and a squeeze bunt allowed Joe Barlow to score the first run of the game. Bushman walked, stole second and scored on an Ovard single with two outs to make the score 2-0.
However, WNC bounced back with two runs of its own in the fourth, with Kody Reynolds' triple highlighting the rally. After Reynolds' three-bagger, Tim Lichty walked, setting up DJ Peters for a RBI single. David Modler's sacrifice bunt moved Peters to third and Lichty to second. Austin Andrews' groundout tied the score at 2.
Bradley Lewis was hit by a pitch to start the Wildcat seventh inning but was thrown out trying to steal second base. Salt Lake's winning pitcher, Chris Bradford, closed out the win by striking out the next two hitters. Bradford finished with six strikeouts.
Six different Wildcats provided hits, including Reynolds, Peters, Modler, Andrews, Guzman and Jake Bennett.
In game two, the Bruins produced more hits in the first inning than they did for six innings against Karnos in the opener. Willis doubled in a pair of runs and Caleb Summerhays' base hit scored two more runs as Salt Lake took a 4-0 lead against WNC starter Chase Kaplan.
"We're capable of coming back from a 4-0 deficit," Whittemore said. "We kept giving ourselves chances, which we always do. Very rarely are we going to lose a game without bringing the tying run to the plate."
The Wildcats were thwarted in the second inning when second baseman Skyler Mahoney made a multiple-run-saving play on a hard-hit ball by Jake Bennett.
"The bases were loaded and we had our best hitter up with a 3-1 count, and the second baseman made a diving stop to wipe out two runs on the board," Whittemore said.
WNC also loaded the bases with one out in the third and came away empty. A Bradley Lewis bunt off his foot was ruled a fair ball, according to Whittemore, and Salt Lake recorded the final two outs on the play.
Fougner delivered a two-run single off Kaplan (3-4) in the second, raising Salt Lake's lead to 6-0. Willlis knocked in two more runs in a three-run third as Salt Lake broke it open, 9-0.
WNC erased Matt Hape shutout by scoring twice in the fifth. Reynolds' one-out double triggered the rally. Lichty hit a single, and Reynolds scored on Peters' groundout. Lichty tallied WNC's second run of the inning on a wild pitch.
The Wildcats scored two more runs in the sixth and one in the seventh. Parker Woodley delivered a sacrifice fly and Guzman hit a run-scoring double in the sixth. In the seventh, Blake Morin's base hit plated Lichty.
Lichty was 3 for 3 with two runs scored and Molder went 2 for 3 to lead WNC's 11-hit attack. Salt Lake moved into second place in the SWAC at 11-8, while WNC dropped to 11-12. The two teams will wrap up their four-game series with an 11 a.m. matchup on Saturday.
