WNC Baseball: 'Relievers' Shine for Wildcats in Colorado
Submitted by editor on Sat, 04/18/2015 - 8:04pm
Nearly perfect relief pitching was the key to Western Nevada College sweeping a Scenic West Athletic Conference baseball doubleheader from Colorado Northwestern on Saturday in Rangely, Colo.
Sophomore pitcher Max Karnos tossed a one-hitter over five innings of relief as the Wildcats of Carson City won the opener, 6-1, and then Connor Zwetsch and Ty Fox allowed just one hit to the Spartans for the final 6 innings as WNC completed the sweep with a come-from-behind 7-4 victory.
"We played good in all three phases today," said WNC coach D.J. Whittemore. "We played good defense, the pitching was really solid and the offense was grinding all day long, putting the pressure on the other team and continuing to expand the lead. "I don't know if we've played much better than this for three straight games in Colorado ever or this year. It's encouraging."
By winning the first three games of the series, the Wildcats climbed back over .500 in SWAC play at 14-13 and moved into third place, just one-half game behind second-place College of Southern Idaho.
Sophomore outfielder Jake Bennett blasted a three-run homer in the opener and provided three hits in game two.
"He's been doing it all for us this year," Whittemore said. "Jake is really consistent, from his work ethic, to his attitude, to his preparation and to his performance."
Josh Mill started the opener for the Wildcats, giving up three walks but no hits in two innings of work. Karnos relieved him in the third inning and gave up just one hit the rest of the way. He struck out one and didn't walk a batter in evening his season record at 4-4.
"Max did a nice job and was designated to come in in the third inning," Whittemore said. "I was going to let him finish a game and not overuse him. He had his sinker going today and threw some groundballs."
Ben Martinez hit a sacrifice fly to put Colorado Northwestern on top, 1-0, in the first inning.
But Austin Andrews pulled WNC even with a single that plated Blake Morin in the second inning. Andrews singled in WNC's second run in the fourth, triggering a four-run uprising. Bennett's three-run homer capped the rally.
David Modler crossed the plate with an unearned run in the sixth inning to complete the scoring.
Bennett collected two of the Wildcats' five hits in the opener.
The storyline was nearly identical in game two as Fox earned his fifth win without a defeat, surrendering just one hit and an unearned run in five innings. Preceding Fox on the mound, Zwetsch worked 1 2/3 innings of hitless relief and struck out three.
"Ty has been starting for all season, and I kind of want to let him finish a game," Whittemore said. "We need some more guys to start contributing on the mound. We need the bullpen to do a better job than they've been doing. We're probably a few decent relief performances away from being in first place, to be honest."
After the Spartans nicked up starter Chase Kaplan for three runs in the first frame, the Wildcats responded in their next at-bat. Bradley Lewis' RBI base hit started the comeback and the Wildcats pulled even when Bennett's RBI groundball was thrown away, allowing both Andrews and Lewis to touch the plate.
WNC took the lead in the sixth on a Kody Reynolds sacrifice fly and made it 5-3 when Lewis walked with the bases loaded. In the seventh, the Wildcats went ahead 7-3 on a run-scoring fielder's choice by Tim Lichty and when DJ Peters came home on an infielder error.
The Spartans capitalized on one of the few Wildcats committed so far in the series to score an unearned run in the sixth to close within three runs. But Fox made sure they wouldn't get any closer.
Bennett again led the Wildcats' offense, going 3 for 5 with a RBI. Modler chipped in two hits and scored two runs. Brandon Lapointe was 2 for 3 and Lewis knocked in two runs.
"I don't know if we have been doing anything different. We show up to play," Whittemore said. "We're not great, but we have a chance every day. When we play defense, we have a chance."
WNC (27-20) and Colorado Northwestern (14-27) will conclude their four-game series with an 11 a.m. game Sunday that Whittemore said is key to the postseason picture.
"Tomorrow's game is huge for us. We've got to win tomorrow if we want to stay out of that extra game in the playoffs," Whittemore said.
