Complete Notes (.pdf)
Game 1 Box Score (Northwest Missouri 1, Truman 0)
Game 2 Box Score (Truman 4, Northwest Missouri 3)
Truman State University (Mo.) 7-13 overall; 6-10 MIAA
Northwest Missouri State University 6-16 overall; 5-11 MIAA
MARYVILLE, Mo. – A four-run rally in the top of the ninth gave the Truman baseball team a series victory over rival Northwest Missouri State on Monday afternoon as the Bulldogs took the final game of the series 4-3. Truman's starters posted a 1.14 ERA with zeros in 30 of the 32 innings of the series.
The first game saw both teams scoreless until the bottom of the seventh when Tyler Stefan hit Evan Connell with two outs and the bases loaded to give the Bearcats a 1-0 victory. Stefan allowed just four hits while striking out seven Northwest hitters. However, no offense for the Bulldogs in the opener as Truman mustered just two hits.
The Bearcats looked to have shaken their bats loose to start game two as a two-run double by Brett Paterson gave Northwest a 3-0 lead after one inning on Truman's Kyle Veazey.
However, Truman's senior pitcher settled in an allowed just two hits the rest of the game to give his offense time to come alive.
They did so in the top of the ninth as Steven Rose led off the inning with his third hit of the game and was followed by a single from Devon Myers. Scott Doggett followed with a single to load the bases and Kenny Swanson delivered a one-out double to plate Rose and Myers, it was Truman's only extra base hit in the series. Bryce Bond then grounded to short while Doggett came in to tie the game at three apiece.
Jordan Howe got the clutch hit up the middle to score Swanson for the game winning run.
Veazey allowed a one-out single to Nathanial Horton in the bottom of the ninth but Myers ended the game in fashion by throwing out pinch runner Matt Nanninga trying to steal second.
Jayson Huett, who won game one in relief, took the loss in game two but struck out 13 Bulldog in doing so.
Inside the Series: It was Truman's first MIAA series win this season and third under Coach Dan Davis…it was the first road MIAA series win since 2005 (Missouri S&T, two-of-three)…all four Truman starters pitched and completed all four games, the foursome allowed just four earned runs and struck out 37 Bearcat hitters while issuing just six walks…Northwest also used just four pitchers with Jayson Huett relieving in the seventh of day two's first game and starting the next…both schools hit under .200 for the series (Truman .189, Northwest .163)…five of Truman's eight runs in the series came with two outs…Steven Rose hit .357 for the Bulldogs (5-of-14) while Drew Garwood and Jordan Howe also hit above .300 for Truman (.333)…Northwest was led by Geno DeAngelis (.273)…catchers Devon Myers and Pete Jurich threw out five of six Northwest base stealers in the series.
Game 1 Box Score (Truman 3, Northwest 0)
Game 2 Box Score (Truman 1, Northwest 0)
Truman State University (Mo.) 6-12, 5-9 MIAA
Northwest Missouri State University 5-15, 4-10 MIAA
MARYVILLE, Mo. – Just under 11 years ago, Paul Corenjo pitched the last complete game shutout for the Truman baseball team, on Sunday, Ryan Trimble and Jarrett Eiskina pitched two as the Bulldogs took the first two games of their MIAA series against Northwest by scores of 3-0 and 1-0 on Sunday.
The Bulldogs scored all four of their runs with two outs.
In the first game, Devon Myers (Fenton, Mo., Rockwood Summit HS) hit a double down the right field line in the first and came in to score on Dan Plecki's RBI single to right. An inning later,Kody Stricklin (Barnhart, Mo., Seckman HS) drove in Jordan Howe (Clinton, Iowa, Northeast HS) with two outs, as Howe picked up a two-out single, stole second and came in on Stricklin's single up the middle. In the third, Plecki (Champaign, Ill., Centennial HS) doubled to center as Myers singled to left with two outs.
Trimble (O'Fallon, Mo., Francis Howell HS) got off to a shaky start as he hit the first batter he faced and gave up a single to the number two hitter before getting a fly out and strikeout. He then intentionally walked Geno DeAngelis to load the bases and struck out Brett Paterson to end the inning.
From there, Trimble did not allow a base runner until a fielding error in the fifth, as he retired 11 straight Bearcats. Back to back hits in the sixth with two outs brought the tying run to the plate but pinch hitter Nathanial Horton was retired by Plecki feeding Trimble covering the first base bag.
Trimble retired the bottom of the line-up in order for the complete game shutout.
In game two, Eiskina (Lee's Summit, Mo., Lee's Summit HS) got a double play ball in the third and picked off the only runner to reach via the walk in the fourth before Truman pushed across the games only run in the top of the fifth.
Drew Garwood (St. Joseph, Mo., Benton HS) led off the inning with a walk and was sacrificed to second by Kenny Swanson (Arvada, Colo., Wheat Ridge HS). Steven Rose (St. Charles, Mo., Francis Howell Central HS) then pushed one through the wickets of Northwest shortstop Cameron Bedard into left field and Garwood was waved home by Coach Dan Davis in what proved to be the winning run.
Eiskina remained sharp as he struck out the side in the bottom of the fifth and two more in the sixth. Myers helped the cause by throwing out DeAngelis trying to steal in the seventh.
In the ninth, Jake Kretzer led off the inning with a single up the middle but Northwest couldn't move the runner over. After a line out, Myers then threw out Kretzer trying to take second on his own and then clinched the game with a catch on a foul ball from Charlie Krueger, the Bearcats number four hitter with a runner on first.
The teams will conclude their four game set on Monday with another doubleheader.
Series Preview:
The 'Dogs and 'Cats are scheduled to tangle this weekend on the diamond as Truman heads to Northwest for a four-game MIAA series in Maryville. It will be the first conference road series for the Bulldogs this season as they are looking to build off of a split with Missouri Southern last weekend.
Series Schedule:
The four-game series is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday with a seven-inning game to be followed by a nine-inning game. The teams will play the same format on Sunday starting an hour earlier at noon. In the event the first game of the day goes into extra innings, the second game will be shifted to a seven-inning game.
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 .243 with 26 extra base hits. The team has 20 doubles, three triples and three home runs to go with 27 stolen bases.
· Junior Devon Myers leads the team with a .382 batting average and is one of two Bulldogs to play and start in all 16 games (Steven Rose). Myers leads the team with 10 runs batted in and has a .564 slugging percentage.
· Michael Reese leads the team in stolen bases with eight steals in eight attempts while Kenny Swanson is second with seven steals out of eight tries. As a team, the Bulldogs are 79% successful in stolen base attempts (27-of-34).
· The Bulldog offense has scored 23% of the time when reaching by walk, error or hit by pitch (16-of-67) while on the other side of the coin, opponents are scoring 46% of the time when reaching by the same means (34-of-73)
· The pitching staff has a 5.22 earned run average through 16 games. Opponents are hitting .295 with 45 extra base hits (31 doubles, five triples and nine home runs.)
· The hurlers have over a two-to-one strikeout to walk ratio as the Bulldogs have fanned 90 opposing hitters while issuing just 42 walks. On average, the staff is averaging 5.6 Ks per game.
· The Bulldog pitchers have a 1.49 WHIP while the Bulldog hitters have a 1.26 WHIP.
· Junior Ryan Trimble leads the team with a 2.77 earned run average in 26 innings pitched. The four starters (Trimble, Jarrett Eiskina, Tyler Stefan and Kyle Veazey) have 4.39 ERA and have chewed up 96.3 of the 129.3 innings pitched this season.
· Chris Allard (six appearances) and Christian Witt (five appearances) and) lead the bullpen in appearances. Allard has two saves and a 3.86 ERA in seven innings pitched while Witt has a 6.35 ERA in 5.2 innings pitched.
About The Opponents:
· The Bearcats struggled out of the gates dropping their first 11 ball games but has since won four of their last six including three of four from Fort Hays State in their last conference weekend series.
· Jake Kretzer leads the 'Cats with a .341 batting average and nine runs scored while Evan Connell has two home runs and nine runs batted in with a .298 batting average. As a team, Northwest hits .254 with four home runs and 56 RBIs while striking out 143 times (8.4/g).
· Chris Green leads the pitching staff with a 1.96 ERA in four starts and has a 1-1 record. Jayson Huett has appeared nine times and has three saves with a 4.76 ERA. As a team, Northwest has a 7.12 ERA with 93 strikeouts (5.4/g) and an opposing batting average of .337
· Northwest was 18-20 in league play last year and 20-34 overall and were picked to finish seventh in the conference race this season.
Series History
Northwest leads the overall series between two of the original MIAA members 130-36 including a series sweep last season. The teams played mid-week doubleheaders as part of a home-and-home series.
In last year's meetings, each team belted out 23 hits but the Northwest pitching staff posted a 2.03 ERA as the Bearcats outscored the Bulldogs 22-9 (9-3, 6-2, 4-2, 4-3).
Steven Rose hit .308 for the Bulldogs while Jordan McLaughlin started two games and had a 1.93 ERA against the Bearcats.
Chris Green won two games while pitching in relief with Jayson Huett and Chase Anderson picking up the other wins.
Bulldogs Climbing Career Charts:
· Kenny Swanson is 10th in career at bats with 466, he will next pass Aaron Royster (473) while Luke Crader is 14th.
· Swanson is also ranked in career hits (130) and stolen bases (36). With two more hits, he will pass Neil Bleish (131). Swanson is five stolen bases away from Brad Jenkins (1995-96) and second place with 41, he is currently fifth.
· Devon Myers is climbing the career charts in total bases (178), RBIs (81), hits (123) and doubles (23). He is also just two home runs shy of 10 for his career.
· Steven Rose has also eclipsed 400 at bats (405) and has five triples.
· Kyle Veazey is Truman's career leader in starts with 35 while Ryan Trimble is also climbing that chart with 28. Veazey sixth all-time in innings pitched with 178.
· Michael Staihr is sixth all-time in appearances with 46.
Up Next:
Truman will head to Southwest Baptist for a four-game series in Bolivar on the weekend of April 1st.
