MIDWAY, Ky. – After a stellar weekend sweep against the Aquinas Saints, the Campbellsville Tigers hit the road for a mid-week game against the Midway Eagles. The Tigers' offense stayed hot against the Eagles, winning 10-4.
Looking to set the tone, Zane Skansi refused to let the first inning die and found his way on with a two-out walk. Antony Gilbert followed up with a single that moved Skansi to second, and Tanner Park clutched up with a single that put the Tigers on the board. James Teets stepped up to the plate looking to do damage and torched a three-run homer over the left field fence. Henry Wright continued the two-out mayhem with a walk and immediately stole second base. Tate Wischnack worked a walk, and Jaxson Grubbs scored Wright with a single to center. As the Tigers had batted through the lineup, leadoff hitter Yosuke Fujie joined the chaos with an RBI single that scored Wischnack. The Tigers' offense impressively scored all six runs with two outs.
PJ Ledesma made his first start of the season on the mound for the Tigers. With comfortable run support early in the ballgame, Ledesma looked to shut the Eagles' offense down and make a statement. The Eagles had other intentions, as a leadoff single and walk put the lefty in trouble. A passed ball allowed both runners to advance, and a sacrifice fly to right was able to plate the run. Ledesma was able to find his groove, stopping the bleeding with a strikeout and a groundout.
Trying to build off the offensive momentum, Skansi worked a leadoff walk to start the second inning. Gilbert kept the line moving with a double that gave the Tigers two in scoring position with no outs. Unfortunately, the Tigers' offense was unable to capitalize.
With a less-than-ideal first inning for Ledesma, the lefty continued on the mound in the second for the Tigers, hoping to pick up a clean frame. Though the Eagles worked a one-out walk, Ledesma got his double-play ball to end the inning.
After missing the scoring opportunity in the second inning, Grubbs worked a walk in the third to give the Tigers another chance. With two outs, Trent Buchanan singled to keep the inning alive, and Skansi drove the nail with an RBI single that scored Grubbs.
The Tigers stuck with the mid-week pitching approach of a staff game, which brought Ian Roemer to the mound to take over for Ledesma in the third inning. The Eagles welcomed Roemer to the ballgame with a leadoff single to right field. Midway threatened to score after the runner made it to third with two stolen bases while Roemer collected the first two outs. A fielder's choice ended the frame and eliminated the threat.
With a lot of baseball left to play, the Tigers aimed to keep adding to their lead. Park got the fourth inning started reaching on an error, and Teets piggybacked with a single through the left side. Wischnack passed the torch after he punched a single to right field that loaded the bases with one out. Grubbs got the job done with an RBI fielder's choice, resulting in Wischnack being out at second.
As the offense kept producing, Roemer was tasked with hanging another big zero for the Tigers in the fourth inning. A one-out single for the Eagles gave them a spark, and Roemer punched back with a strikeout. The Eagles threatened again with another single, though Roemer was able to escape with a ground ball.
The Tigers found a way to scratch another run across in the top of the fifth inning. Gilbert found his way on base with a walk and was brought home by a two-out clutch single from Park.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Tigers dug deeper into their bullpen for Chase Tucker to make his sixth season appearance. After the leadoff man reached on a defensive error, Tucker kept composure and retired the next two batters while adding a strikeout. A two-out single and a wild pitch put two men in scoring position, and a walk loaded the bases for the Eagles. Tucker found a way and induced a fly ball to escape the jam.
Though the Tigers didn't score in the sixth inning, they didn't go down without a fight. After a quick two outs, Grubbs kept the inning going with a single and a pitch hit Fujie to bring the next man up. With River Terry pinch-running for Grubbs, he and Fujie executed a double steal to give the offense a shot, though both runners were left stranded.
Down eight runs going into the bottom of the sixth inning, the Eagles finally could capitalize with their baserunners. Still on the mound was Tucker, who surrendered a double to lead off the inning. The runner advanced to third with a groundout, and Tucker plunked the next batter. With runners at the corners, the Eagles cashed in a run with a single to right, replacing the runners. After the next man walked to load the bases, the Eagles struck again with a two-run single. Needing to stop the bleeding, the Tigers went to the bullpen again and called for Jackson Dollar. Dollar was efficient and retired his first two hitters and stranded two inherited runners.
With the shortened lead, the Tigers came out hot in the top of the seventh. Skansi led off with a single, then Gilbert and Park loaded the bases with a pair of walks, forcing the Eagles to go to their bullpen. Teets made the free bases hurt and moved everyone up with a fielder's choice error by the third baseman. The Eagles' call to the bullpen proved to be a good move, as the pitcher struck out the next three hitters.
The Tigers' offense was retired in order through the next two innings. It didn't matter, though, as the pitching staff was able to retire the next nine batters in a row. Dollar finished his outing with a clean seventh inning and was followed by Shoki Fukui, making his pitching debut for the Tigers. With a clean eighth inning from Fukui, Logan MacNiel took the mound for a 1-2-3 ninth inning, sending the Tigers home with another win.
The Tigers beat the Eagles with ten runs on 14 hits with one error, while the Eagles lost with four runs on eight hits with two errors.
The Tigers have a couple of days off to fine-tune but are set to return this weekend with four games against the Madonna University Crusaders. The first doubleheader will be played on Friday, March 7th, with games set to begin at 12 p.m. and 3 p.m. ET.
- The Tigers were 11-1 against the Eagles going into the day, with their only loss in 2018.
- Over the 13 played games, the Tigers have tallied 133 runs.
