Complete Notes (.pdf)
Box Score (Truman 5, MSSU 4)
Truman State University (Mo.) 4-12; 3-9 MIAA
Missouri Southern State University 11-8; 7-7 MIAA
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – Kyle Veazey pitched eight solid innings, Devon Myers and Kody Stricklin each went three-for-four and Chris Allard nailed down his second save of the season as the Truman Bulldogs picked up the series split against Missouri Southern on Sunday by a 5-4 score.
Two unearned runs staked the Lions to the first inning lead and the extended it to three after the top of the third.
Back-to-back singles to lead off the bottom of the inning by Stricklin and Michael Reese jumpstarted the Bulldog attack as Myers drove in Stricklin for Truman's first run with one out.
The first five Bulldogs reached in the fourth as Stricklin brought in the second run on a nubber past the pitcher and Reese followed with an RBI ground out to tie the game up.
Stricklin's double brought in Luke Crader in the sixth to put Truman up 4-3. Bryce Bond's sac fly in the seventh scored Myers, who led off the inning with a double and his third hit of the game and eighth of the series.
After the first three, Veazey settled in and allowed just three hits through eight innings while fanning three Lion hitters. He gave way to Allard in the ninth with Truman up by a run.
Allard walked his first hitter he faced but after a sac bunt, flyout and wild pitch, got Tee Helsel swinging with the tying run 90 feet away for his second save of the season.
Veazey improved to 1-3 while Cody Greibling was tagged with the loss after entering the game in the fifth.
The Bulldogs will next play Northwest Missouri in a four-game conference series next weekend in Maryville.
Inside The Series: Truman hit .315 as a team while the Lions slugged .258 over the four-games…Devon Myers was 8-of-16 (.500) and Luke Crader was 4-of-8 (.500) to lead Truman offensively…Kody Stricklin finished the four games 7-of-15 (.467)…Truman had 41 hits to Southern's 34…all four Bulldog starting pitchers went at least seven innings and struck out 25 Lion hitters while issuing just six walks…Dallas Burke led Southern with six hits in 15 at bats (.400) and six runs scored while Jesse Kinsey was also 6-of-15 with four doubles…Southern pitcher Grant Conrad appeared in all four games, made one start, tossed 10 1/3 innings with an ERA of 0.87, the Bulldogs hit .317 against Conrad.
Saturday Recap
Game 1 Box Score (MSSU 6-4 9 inn)
Game 2 Box Score (MSSU 6-4 8 inn)
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Bulldog baseball team was within whiskers of taking both ends of Saturday's conference doubleheader however the Missouri Southern Lions prevailed with a pair of 6-4 wins in extra innings each game to take a 2-1 lead in the four-game set. The series is scheduled to conclude on Sunday with a single nine-inning game at noon.
Will Nader used his speed to knot game one at two apiece as he stole second as a pinch runner and advanced to third on a wild throw by the Lions' catcher. Nader tied the game at two on a sac fly by Pete Jurich.
However, Southern grabbed the momentum right back as an RBI double put the Lions back on top.
Kody Stricklin singled and stole second in the last of the seventh and was able to send the game into extra innings scoring on a sac fly by Steven Rose.
Tim Lee replaced Jarrett Eiskina on the hill and retired the Lions in order.
In the bottom of the eighth, Devon Myers led off with a hit and after a sac bunt, moved to third on a single by Scott Doggett. Jurich then hit a hard grounded that second basemen Fernando Lugo bobbled but was able to flip to short and the throw to first just beat Jurich down the line for the inning ending double-play.
That defensive play was the difference maker as the Lions pushed two across the plate with Cullen Baxter collected the game winning RBI in the ninth off.
Logan Siegler took the loss in relief while Austin Brown was the winner for Southern.
Southern took a 1-0 lead in game two but Luke Crader tied the game in the second with an RBI single to score Kenny Swanson.
The Lions would go back on top in the fourth as Dallas Burke doubled and later scored on a wild pitch.
In the fifth, Rose reached on a error and Dan Plecki hit a two-out two-run home run to left to give Truman a 3-2 lead.
Tyler Stefan got the first out in the seventh then hit Kevin Burgi. The next batter Stefan faced flied out to right for the second out of the inning.
Stefan's curveball just missed to Patrick Deao, which would have ended it, but Deao then took the next delievery back up the middle for a hit. Lugo followed with an RBI single up the middle and Ben Millard gave Southern the lead with an RBI single.
The resilient Bulldogs fought back in the bottom of the seventh as Michael Reese reach via walk then came in to score on a heads-up play after an errant throw to first after Myers had already beat out a single.
In the eighth with two outs, Stefan hit another batter then gave up a crucial two-run double by Shayne Hoke which proved to be the game winner.
Truman belted out 19 hits in the two games with Reese collecting a team-leading four with Plecki and Myers each with three.
Friday Box Score
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – Staff ace Ryan Trimble tossed four-hit ball through eight solid innings and Steven Rose picked up the game winning RBI in the fifth as the Truman Bulldogs took game one of a four-game MIAA series by a 5-2 score over Missouri Southern on Friday.
Rose starting things off for Truman with a single in the first and went to third on a double to left by Devon Myers. Dan Plecki went the other way with a pitch by David Reese and dropped a ball near the right field line to plate Rose and an early 1-0 lead.
Trimble's roughest inning was the fourth as the first two Southern hitters reached via walk and double by Dallas Burke. Jesse Kinsey was going on contact at third and was thrown out by Drew Garwood at the plate on a fielder's choice by Tee Helsel. Then Helsel was picked off for the second out of the inning but a passed ball on a third strike allowed Burke to score and tie the game.
In the Bulldogs' fifth, Kody Stricklin picked up the first of his two hits of the day to leadoff and Michael Reese doubled to put both runners in scoring position. Rose brought in Stricklin on a ground out. Myers then reached and drove in Reese when his ball slipped under Kinzey's glove at first and into right field for a 3-1 lead.
Trimble (1-3) went into shutdown mode as he retired the next nine straight with four strikeouts.
Truman added a pair of insurance runs in the eighth as Will Nader scored on a squeeze bunt by Jordan Howe and Stricklin followed with an RBI single.
Chris Allard was greeted with a lead-off home run by Kinzey but got the final three outs for Truman to seal the win.
Four Bulldogs, Reese, Rose, Myers and Stricklin, had two hits apiece and Kenny Swanson reached base three times.
The teams will continue the series on Saturday with two seven-inning games starting at 1:00 p.m.
Series Preview:
The Truman Baseball team will host Missouri Southern State University for a four-game MIAA series starting on Friday afternoon at the Bulldog Baseball Park. Truman is 1-7 after two weekends of conference play while the Lions are 5-5 following a midweek split of a doubleheader against Pittsburg State on Wednesday.
Series Schedule:
The four-game series is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m. on Friday with a single nine-inning game followed by two seven-inning contests on Saturday starting at 1:00 p.m. and concluding with another single nine-inning affair with a first pitch time of noon on Sunday.
Bulldogs On Twitter:
For in-game updates or schedule changes, follow Truman Athletics on Twitter. Due to the field location and the reliability of wireless internet, the Truman Sports Information Staff will be sending out “Tweets” during home games keeping fans updated.
Bulldog Bites:
· The Bulldogs are hitting .216 with 18 extra base hits. The team has 13 doubles, three triples and two roundtrippers to go with 20 stolen bases.
· Junior Devon Myers leads the team with a .333 batting average and is one of two Bulldogs to play and start in all 12 games (Steven Rose). Myers leads the team with seven runs batted in and has a .513 slugging percentage.
· Michael Reese leads the team in stolen bases with eight steals in eight attempts while Kenny Swanson is second with five steals out of six tries. As a team, the Bulldogs are 76% successful in stolen base attempts (20-of-26).
· The Bulldog offense has scored 24% of the time when reaching by walk, error or hit by pitch while on the other side of the coin, opponents are scoring 47% of the time when reaching
· The pitching staff has a 5.92 earned run average through 12 games. Opponents are hitting .308 with 33 extra base hits (21 doubles, four triples and eight home runs.)
· The hurlers have a two-to-one strikeout to walk ratio as the Bulldogs have fanned 65 opposing hitters while issuing just 35 walks. On average, the staff is averaging 5.4 Ks per game.
· Junior Ryan Trimble leads the team with a 4.00 earned run average in 18 innings pitched. The four starters (Trimble, Jarrett Eiskina, Tyler Stefan and Kyle Veazey) have roughly a 5.00 ERA and have chewed up 65.2 of the 94.1 innings pitched this season.
· Christian Witt (five appearances) and Chris Allard (four appearances) lead the bullpen in appearances. Witt has a 6.35 ERA in 5.2 innings pitched while Allard has a 3.60 ERA in five innings thrown.
About The Opponents:
· The Lions have stay pretty close to home to start the season as they have played 12 of their 15 games in Joplin and their last two was played in nearby Pittsburg, Kan.
· Jesse Kinzey leads the Lions in hitting with a .463 batting average despite going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in MSSU's 17-10 victory in the nightcap over Pittsburg State.
· Brett Abell is the team's number one pitcher with five starts this season and a 3.78 ERA. Abell took the loss in a 6-0 decision in the opener against the Gorillas on Wednesday.
· The Lions were 28-26 overall and 20-18 in the MIAA last season and were picked to finish fourth in the MIAA preseason coaches poll.
Series History
Missouri Southern leads the overall series with the Bulldogs 33-11. The Lions took three of four from Truman last year in Kirksville and have won 12 of the last 15 games played.
Drew Garwood hit .545 while Luke Crader (.500) and Steven Rose (.438) led the Bulldogs last season against the Lions. As a team, Truman hit .328 while Jarrett Eiskina picked up the lone win with a complete-game, five-hitter in a 7-2 victory in the second game of the series.
The Lions hit .371 in the four-game set last year but their top four hitters from that series are no longer on the team. The top returning hitter from that series is Shayne Hoke, who was 8-of-19 with seven runs scored and six runs batted in.
Bulldogs Climbing Career Charts:
· Kenny Swanson is 11th in career at bats with 453, he will next pass Brian Walters (455) while Luke Crader is 14th.
· Swanson is also ranked in career hits (128) and stolen bases (34). With three more hits, he will pass Neil Bleish (131). Swanson is eight stolen bases away from Brad Jenkins (1995-96) and second place with 41, he is currently seventh.
· Devon Myers is climbing the career charts in total bases (167) and RBIs (78). He is also just two home runs shy of 10 for his career.
· Kyle Veazey became Truman's career leader in starts with his 34th on Sunday against Emporia State. Ryan Trimble is also on that list with 27 games started.
Up Next:
The Bulldogs will play their next 10 games away from Kirksville with a weekend series at Northwest Missouri next followed by a trip to Southwest Baptist and MIAA newcomer Lincoln University for a midweek game on April 5th.
