Complete Notes (.pdf)
Live Stats
Game 1 Box Score (Truman 4, Nebraska Omaha 0)
Game 2 Box Score (Nebraska-Omaha 5, Truman 3)
University of Nebraska Omaha (30-16; 26-14 MIAA)
Truman State University (17-27; 16-24 MIAA)
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – Christian Witt shutdown the high powered Nebraska Omaha Mavericks with a complete game two-hitter in the Bulldogs 4-0 win over UNO in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader while in the nightcap the Mavericks escaped with a 5-3 victory in a wild affair.
Witt was dominate in the opener as he struck out a career high 12 UNO hitters while issuing just one walk for the seven inning complete-game shutout. He allowed a two-out single in the fourth and a one-out single in the fifth to pick up his fourth win of the season. It was the first time since 2009, a span of 107 games, that Nebraska Omaha was shutout.
Truman scored all their runs in the fourth inning with two outs. Luke Crader got the Bulldogs first hit of the game off of Derek Landis with a double down the left field line then came in on Dan Plecki's two-out RBI single. Daniel Jewett followed with a base hit and Jordan Howe singled up the middle as Plecki scored from second to make it 2-0. Bryce Bond then delivered a clutch two-run single to right for the game's final runs.
Truman scored first in the nightcap as Pete Jurich hit a sac fly to center to score Jewett in the second inning.
Drew Garwood, making his first pitching appearance of the season, got through the first two innings before running into issues in the third. A close 2-2 pitch to the leadoff man, Beau Suponchick was called a ball and the Maverick third baseman then took next pitch over the left field fence to tie the game. Garwood was rattled a bit and walked and hit the next two batters before Martin Sartin singled in Brady Hohl for the go-ahead run. Garwood would get out of the jam with a foul out to the catcher and a fly out to right with runners at the corners.
Truman tied it in the bottom of the inning when Devon Myers dropped down a surprise two-out bunt. In the attempt to get Myers at first, which would have been a close play, the ball sailed into right allowing Michael Reese to come in from second to score.
The Mavericks added two more in the fourth as Hohl singled in Trevor Gappa to chase Garwood and Jordan McLaughlin hit Jed Hanson with the bases loaded to bring in Suponchick.
McLaughlin found a groove as he breezed through the fifth and sixth innings before giving up a lead off home run to Hanson in the seventh.
The second bit of controversy for the Bulldogs occurred in the fifth as Luke Crader appeared to have hit a sac fly to right scoring Kenny Swanson. The Mavericks, who appealed nearly every play in which a runner advanced on a fly ball, got the appeal call on Swanson at third despite no play at the plate when Swanson scored. That ended the inning for the Bulldogs.
Jurich led off the seventh with his first home run of the season to make it 5-3 but Truman loaded the bases before another close play at the plate, again involving Swanson, didn't go the Bulldogs way. Myers lifted a very shallow fly ball that was caught by a backing up Hohl at short, Swanson tagged up but was called out at home as both players dove in the dirt.
Truman would load the bases again in the eighth with no outs but a fielder's choice; a pop out to short and a fly out to center ended the threat.
In the ninth, Truman again loaded the bases, this time with two outs but Jordan Howe's hard hit ball was snared by Hohl to end the game.
Garwood was tagged with the loss; however McLaughlin was strong in relief as he pitched five-plus innings allowing one run on two hits.
Matt Tew was the winner for UNO going six innings, allowing nine hits while striking out six. Andrew Reck picked up his second save of the season.
The Bulldogs will close out the 2011 regular season at the University of Central Missouri next weekend in Warrensburg.
Inside the Series: The Mavericks took three of four games to win the series and clinched their spot into the MIAA postseason tournament…the Bulldogs hit .212 as a team while Jordan Howe and Kenney Swanson led the 'Dogs with .333 batting averages…UNO came into the series averaging over seven runs a game and were shutout for the first time since 2009 (vs. Central Missouri)…the Bulldog pitchers struck out 35 UNO hitters while walking just six…UNO came into the series hitting .344 but hit just .274 in the four games…Jed Hanson was UNO's top hitter with a .462 mark (6-of-13) with five RBIs and a home run.
Game 1 Box Score (Nebraska-Omaha 5, Truman 1)
Game 2 Box Score (Nebraska-Omaha 10, Truman 1)
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The University of Nebraska Omaha Mavericks took the first two games of the weekend series over the Truman Bulldogs on Friday by scores of 5-1 and 10-1. The teams will return to action on Saturday for Senior Day.
Mavericks' ace Joe Holtmeyer nearly tossed a no-hitter in game one as he stymied the Bulldogs bats for six and two-thirds innings. Jordan Howe's infield single was the only hit registered and the wild throw to first allowed the Bulldogs to pick up their only run in a 5-1 loss.
Truman's starter Kyle Veazey matched Holtmeyer in the early going as he fanned six of the first eight batters he faced. However, with two-outs in the bottom of the third, UNO had five consecutive singles to plate three runs and Brandon Winklemann doubled to score another in the five run third.
Veazey, the senior making his final home start, would finish with a career-high nine strikeouts while walking just one in six innings pitched. Fellow senior Michael Staihr pitched a scoreless seventh to become Truman's all-time appearance leader with 52 in his four years.
The Bulldogs jumped on top of the Mavericks in game two as Daniel Jewett read the ball in the dirt well and came in to score on the wild pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth.
Tyler Stefan got a shutdown inning by virtue of a pair of interference calls in the top of the fifth. After a leadoff single by Trevor Gappa, Martin Sartin was called out for leaving the batter box early on a sac bunt attempt, following a fly out, Brady Hohl was called out on an interference play in which he swung as Devon Myers was trying to throw out the base runner attempting to steal. The swing attempt occurred while the throw was being made well after the pitch had crossed the plate.
A two-out single in the sixth by Winkelmann scored Caleb Palensky to tie the game and UNO used five singles, including two bunt singles to score three times in the top of the seventh to take the lead 4-1.
Back to back home runs by Tyler Davies and Trevor Gappa to lead off the eight put two more on the board for the Mavericks and a three-run homer by Sartin in the ninth would add to the Maverick scoring.
Stefan took the loss while Ben Brown pitched seven innings for UNO to pick up his fifth win of the season.
Series Preview:
Mother Nature has forced changes to the Truman Baseball schedule this week as their non-conference doubleheader against Maryville (Mo.) has been canceled while their home series finale against the University of Nebraska Omaha has been moved up a day to start on Friday. It is also senior weekend as 10 players will be recognized during the weekend.
Truman (16-24; 15-21 MIAA) is coming off a disappointing weekend at Pittsburg State in which they dropped three of four games, two coming in the Gorillas' final at bat. PSU scored twice in the bottom of the sixth to take game one 3-1 then put up three runs in the bottom of the ninth to overtake the Bulldogs 11-10 in game two. The Gorillas scored six times between the fourth and fifth innings to take game three 7-3 before the Bulldogs turned the tables and pounded out five runs in their final at bat to win the finale 8-3.
The Bulldogs may have the toughest schedule remaining of the teams looking for a spot in the MIAA Baseball Championship tournament in two weeks. After this series with the third place Mavericks, the Bulldogs will close out the regular season with a four-game set at second place Central Missouri. Truman is currently four games out of sixth place in the loss column as Washburn is 16-17 with three games in hand.
Truman has had seven games lost, six in conference play by giving up the winning runs in their opponents' final at bat. On the flip side, the Bulldogs have won four league games and five overall by scoring winning runs in their final at bat.
Offensively, the 'Dogs are hitting .265 and are batting .296 during the month of April. After averaging just 2.9 runs per game in March, the Bulldogs have upped that mark to 5.6 runs per game.
Senior Luke Crader has been the hottest Bulldog of late as he is hitting .573 over his last 10 games with an on-base percentage of .615. He has moved to fourth on the team with a .309 season average.
Junior Devon Myers leads the Bulldogs with a .336 batting averaged followed by Daniel Jewett's .322 and Michael Reese's .321.
Ryan Trimble (2.34), Jarrett Eiskina (2.38) and Christian Witt (2.96) have led the Bulldog pitching staff this season to one of its best in over a decade. Truman has an overall 4.81 team ERA while the staff has fanned 227 hitters (5.6/g) to walking just 93 (2.3/g).
Nebraska Omaha (27-14; 23-13) brings a high-powered offense to town that is currently hitting .344 as a team with 41 home runs before a doubleheader with Nebraska Kearney on Wednesday night. Three players hit nearly .400 for the Mavericks with Brady Hohl leading the way with a .399 mark, Connor McCrite second with a .397 and Caleb Palensky third with a .393. None of those three lead the team in RBIs as Colby McCord's 36 followed by Jed Hanson's 35 pace the Maverick offense. They average 7.4 runs per game.
The Mavericks split a four-game series with Fort Hays State winning the first two games 17-8 and 26-20 before dropping the final two 6-4 and 17-7.
Series Schedule:
The four-game series will be conducted by a pair of doubleheaders. The first twinbill will begin at Friday at 2:00 p.m. with Saturday's games starting at 1:00 p.m. The seven inning game will begin each day's action followed by the nine inning contest. Shall the seven inning game go into extra innings (regardless of how many) the second game is shortened to seven innings.
Current Weather Forecast:
The National Weather Service is calling for sunny skies and 72 on Friday but rain moving in (40%) on Saturday with a high near 70. If the series gets pushed back a day, Sunday's forecast calls for sun and 59 degrees.
Bulldog Bites:
· The Bulldogs are hitting .265 with 70 extra base hits. The team has 54 doubles, eight triples and eight home runs to go with 47 stolen bases.
· As a team, the Bulldogs are 64% successful in stolen base attempts (47-of-73).
· The pitching staff has a 4.81 earned run average through 40 games. Opponents are hitting .290 with 86 extra base hits (55 doubles, 12 triples and 19 home runs.).
A Look At The Bulldog Seniors:
Bryce Bond (Columbia, Mo. – Rock Bridge HS)
Career .248 batting avg; 54 RBIs in 124 career games, 98 starts.
Luke Crader (Burfordville, Mo. – Jackson HS)
Career .287 batting avg; 48 RBIs, 155 Total Bases (21st), 141 hits (12th), 491 At Bats (9th)
Drew Garwood (St. Joseph, Mo. – Benton HS)
Career .224 batting avg; six home runs, 33 RBIs, 13 pitching appearances 5.40 ERA.
Jordan McLaughlin (St. Joseph, Mo. – Central HS)
16 appearances, 1-6 record, 6.97 ERA, 25 strikeouts in 50.1 IP
Michael Reese (Rochester, Ill. – Chatham Glenwood HS/Springfield College)
Career .313 batting avg. (13th); 19 extra base hits, 17-of-21 stolen bases
Michael Staihr (Lee's Summit, Mo. – Lee's Summit North HS)
51 appearances (T-1st); 4-12 record, 6.26 ERA 71 strikeouts in 129.1 IP.
Kody Stricklin (Barnhart, Mo. – Seckman HS/Forest Park CC)
Career .286 batting avg; 81 games, 38 starts, 14-of-18 stolen bases
Kenny Swanson (Arvada, Colo. – Wheat Ridge HS)
Career .272 batting avg; 534 at bats (6th), 89 runs (8th), 145 hits (11th), 39 stolen bases (4th)
Kyle Veazey (Joplin, Mo. – Joplin HS)
40 games started (1st), 44 appearances (10th), 208.1 IP (2nd), 103 strikeouts, three complete games.
Christian Witt (Holt, Mo. – Kearney HS)
41 appearances (16th), 10 starts, 6.42 ERA 3-10 record 67 strikeouts in 75.2 IP
Last Year vs. Nebraska-Omaha:
The Mavericks took all four games in Omaha last season but not without a fight put up by the Bulldogs. UNO needed two runs in their last at bat to take game one 8-6, won game two 10-3 after falling behind by a pair, took game three by a 1-0 score as Joe Holtmeyer and Ryan Trimble hooked up in a 1:20 minute game with only five hits total and the Mavs took the night cap 17-7 after again falling behind 4-0.
The Bulldogs hit just .211 during the series while the Mavs hit .353.
Up Next:
The Bulldog will close out the regular season at the University of Central Missouri next weekend.
