04/25/08
A 2-2 weekend series with Graceland University slimmed playoff chances for the Baker University baseball team.
The Wildcats swept at home last Saturday against the Yellowjackets but reversed roles after the road trip to Lamoni, Iowa.
Head coach Phil Hannon said winning the series was similar to a “do or die” situation for the Wildcats to make the Heart of America Athletic Conference playoff competition.
“We were eight games back with eight left, and we almost had to sweep to have a chance,” Hannon said.
The two heartbreaking losses Monday against Graceland resulted in scores of 7-6 and 7-4. In game one, Graceland tacked on four runs to jump out early in the third inning. However, the ‘Cats answered with five big runs in the fourth inning to grab the lead and added a sixth in the fifth inning making the score 6-4.
With just three outs away from victory, Baker’s fortune was spoiled in the seventh inning beginning with a Yellowjacket leadoff home run to ignite the comeback. With two outs and one runner on base, Graceland’s Brian Contreras smashed a two-run homer to take the game 7-6.
Hannon said he thought his team was in the ball game the entire game.
“I thought that with a couple hits here and there we could’ve busted the thing wide open,” Hannon said. “Our pitchers were going on short notice, but we’ve got to continue to pitch effectively. They came up with the meat of their lineup and scored crucial runs.”
Offensively, seniors Dusty Griffin and Aaron Westerhouse recorded two hits apiece along with sophomore Chris Moody. Sophomore Ryan Highfill hit his first homerun of the season to rack up two RBIs. The ‘Cats used four pitchers and committed no errors defensively.
Westerhouse said things were looking up for the ‘Cats until the last inning when Graceland came up with a few good plays.
“It was a pretty good game up until then, and they just came up big,” Westerhouse said. “They came up and had two big hits … It was kind of frustrating, but there’s not much you can do about it.”
In the second game, the ‘Cats jumped ahead 2-0 in the fourth inning but were quickly tested as Graceland tied the score in the bottom of the inning. Baker strung together an offensive inning in the top of the sixth to tack on two more runs and take the lead but once again, Graceland answered, this time with five runs to take the lead and the game 7-4.
Junior Travis McCleary said although the team lost both games, there were still positives taken away from the games.
“I think the team played real well,” McCleary said. “Anytime you’re in a game late it’s always a positive, and when you’re winning late it’s always a positive.”
Moody alike, said he thought the team performed well on the day despite a few mistakes.
“We had good production on the day, just the last couple innings kind of kicked our butt in both games,” Moody said. “As far as overall games, offensively, defensively and our pitching staff, we did well just given a couple balls that were mistakes, and Graceland kind of took our mistakes and ran with it.”
On Wednesday, Baker traveled to Olathe to play the second half of a series with MidAmerica Nazarene University, which was previously rained out over a week ago. After five innings, the rain and lightning were too much to continue play, and the doubleheader was canceled. The Pioneers were winning 5-2 when the game was called and received the victory.
The Wildcats will close out the 2008 season this weekend in a series against Avila University at 1 p.m. Saturday at home.