Baseball 4/1/2012 6:37:00 PM

Unlucky Sevens

Complete Notes (.pdf)
Live Stats

Series Stats (Truman | Northwest)

KIRKSVILLE, Mo –A pair of auspicious starts allowed the Northwest Missouri Bearcats to take the final games and even the weekend series against the Truman baseball team on Sunday. Northwest won the opener 17-7 and took the nightcap 21-7.

Game 4 Recap | Box Score
Northwest Missouri 21, Truman 7

In a game of punch-counterpunch, it was the Bearcats that delivered enough haymakers to down the Bulldogs in the finale. Eric McGlauflin went 5-for-5 at the plate with five RBIs and three runs scored as Northwest had 18 hits and took advantage seven Truman errors. The Bearcats scored a pair in the first only to see Truman fight back with two of their own in the second on a single by Zak Larkin. Northwest countered with four of their own in the third and three more in the fifth. Daniel Jewett collected three hits and had three runs scored and Weston Lewis added a pair of hits including a two-run single. Josh Parrish was credited with the win after shutting out the Bulldogs over the final three and a third innings. Paul McMahon was tagged with the loss.

Game 3 Recap | Box Score
Northwest Missouri 17, Truman 7

The Bearcats put five runs on the board in the top of the first and against in the third en route to the big win over the Bulldogs. Eric Swain was 4-for-4 with two runs batted in and Jake Kretzer hit a pair of home runs as Northwest pounded out 16 hits and were aided by three Bulldog errors. Weston Lewis had a two-run triple for the Bulldogs and Daniel Jewett was 3-for-4 at the plate with a pair of singles and a double. The Bulldogs had four extra base hits and put up multiple runs in the second, fourth and fifth innings but couldn't get the shutdown innings on the defensive side. Jace Anderson (1-4) was the victor for Northwest while Chris Allard (0-4) took the loss making his first start of the season.

Game 2 Recap | Box Score
Truman 3, Northwest Missouri 2

Zak Larkin's hot hitting carried over into game two as the Bulldogs battled back from being two runs down to win 3-2. Larkin singled, stole second and advanced to third on a wild throw on the steal attempt and came in for the go-ahead run on a single by Steven Rose. Tim Lee (2-2) followed Jarrett Eiskina and starter Bret Gerstner to the mound and pitched two solid innings for the win. Lee created trouble in the ninth as a leadoff single and a botched throw on a sac bunt put two on with no outs before Lee made up for it by getting the lead runner on another sacrifice attempt by Tyler Durant. Lee would get a ground ball to third for the second out and struck out Jake Kretzer swinging to leave the tying run 90 feet away. The Bearcats scored first in the top of the first and added a run in the fourth before the Bulldogs finally got to starter Chase Anderson (2-5). Rose singled and scored as Devon Myers stayed in the rundown long enough on a pick-off attempt for the Bulldogs first run and Dan Plecki belted his first home run of the season with two-outs in the fifth to tie the game at two.

Game 1 Recap | Box Score
Truman 4, Northwest Missouri 2

Tyler Stefan pitched two and a third and left the bases loaded in the top of the seven to earn his first save of the season in the Bulldogs 4-2 win over the Bearcats. Zak Larkin plated two for the Bulldogs in the second with a single up the middle as part of a 4-for-4 and three RBI performance at the dish. Larkin tripled in Weston Lewis in the fourth as the Bulldogs broke the tie and would score an insurance run as Devon Myers reached on a fielding error by the Northwest second baseman. Logan Siegler (2-3) pitched into the fifth before walking a pair of batters to bring in Stefan, who promptly fanned Eric McGlauflin to strand the pair. Stefan worked around a two-out error in the sixth but Northwest loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh. Stefan got Tyler Durant to strike out swinging to end the game.

Series Preview:
The Bulldog Baseball team will kick off a 10-game home stand on Friday when they host Northwest Missouri State for a weekend series. The single nine inning opener will begin at 3:00 p.m. with a doubleheader scheduled for Saturday at 1:00 p.m. and a Sunday nine inning contest beginning at noon.

Truman (4-18; 3-15 MIAA) has split the last two conference doubleheaders heading into the weekend. They defeated #30 Emporia State 5-4 in extra innings but then lost 8-0 in the nightcap on Sunday while on Tuesday lost 4-2 to the Lincoln Blue Tigers before taking game two 11-5.

A pair of freshmen and a sophomore lead the Bulldogs in hitting. Jarod Hahn has started all 22 games and is leading the team with a .353 average with a pair of doubles and 13 runs scored. Fellow freshman Zak Larkin is third with a .303 mark with four doubles, five stolen bases and eight runs batted in. Sophomore Daniel Jewett is hitting .329 and leads the squad with nine RBIs.

The staff has received quality starts from all four starters in the rotation. Tyler Stefan picked up the win in relief against Lincoln on Tuesday and shutout the Bearcats for six and two-thirds last year before giving up the winning run in Northwest's last at bat. Bret Gerstner leads the staff with a 2.19 ERA in three starts with Logan Siegler second with a 3.86 ERA in five starts and two complete games.

Truman is hitting .255 as a team and has a team ERA of 5.98.

Northwest took two of four from Missouri Southern last weekend and lost in the bottom of the ninth at Rockhurst on Tuesday 4-3. The Bearcats lead the MIAA in home runs with 25 hit this season, heading into Tuesday's game in Kansas City with Eric Swain belting a conference leading seven so far in 25 games played. Eight of the nine starting hitters have averages over .300 with Ryan Abernathy leading the way with a .404 mark.

On the flip side, pitching has been an issue for Northwest as they have a staff ERA of 7.28 with all but one pitcher with a start having an ERA over six runs. Pat Brady, who has made one start in five games, has a 2.89 ERA. Opponents are hitting .331 against Bearcat pitching with 92 extra base hits and 28 home runs allowed.

Last year it was a pitcher's series as both teams hit under .200 and only eight total pitchers were used in the four games. The Bulldogs won three of the four in Maryville with a ERA of 1.14 and two shutouts while Northwest won their only game 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh in game three.

Series Schedule:
The four-game series will begin Friday at 3:00 p.m. with a single nine-inning game. A pair of seven-inning games will be played on Saturday starting at 1:00 p.m. followed by another nine-inning game on Sunday starting at 12:00 p.m. For any changes to the scheduled, please check TrumanBulldogs.com or @TrumanAthletics on Twitter.

Truman In Conference Rankings (March 25):

The Bulldogs are 10th in hitting (.255) and seventh in pitching (6.14 ERA).
Freshman Bret Gerstner is sixth in the conference in ERA (2.19), sixth in opponent batting average (.225) and tied for first in hits allowed (20).

Milestone Watch

Catcher Devon Myers is 15 hits away from Truman's all-time hit record of 191 held by Patrick Hardin (2002-05). He is currently sixth and will pass Aaron Royster (1991-94) with three more hits and catch Josh Rubin (2003-06) with eight.
Myers is now tied for 10th all-time in runs scored and with 10 home runs. He is currently fourth in RBIs with 97 and can pass Rick Resh (1981-83) and Brian Walters (2000-03) with three and four RBIs respectively.
Steven Rose has 159 career hits, 85 runs scored, seven triples (fourth all-time) and 583 career at bats which is third all-time.
Pitcher Tyler Stefan is third all-time in appearances with 50 and is five away from Michael Stahir record set last season. He is sixth in innings pitched with 187.2 and seventh in strikeouts with 130.
Sophomore Chris Allard is tied for sixth all-time in saves with four. The Bulldog record is nine set by Dan Hillen (2003-05).

Bulldog Bites:

Truman is hitting .255 as a team this season with 26 extra base hits (21 doubles, a triple and two home runs). Last season, the Bulldogs hit .255 with 77 extra base hits. The team had 59 doubles, nine triples and nine home runs to go with 51 stolen bases.
Freshman Paul Treinhaile and senior Devon Myers have the team's home runs this season.
The Bulldogs are slightly above 51% in stolen base attempts going 16-of-31 this season. As a team last year, the Bulldogs were 62% successful in stolen base attempts (51-of-82).
The pitching staff has a 5.98 earned run average through 22 games. Opponents are hitting .304 with 50 extra base hits, including 13 round trippers. In 2011, the staff had a 4.96 earned run average in 48 games. Opponents hit .290 with 100 extra base hits (62 doubles, 13 triples and 25 home runs.).
Opponents are scoring 7.18 runs per game while Truman is scoring 3.14.
Truman has had five one-run games this season winning just once. Over the past four seasons, the Bulldogs are 11-21 in one-run games.

Truman vs. Northwest Missouri:
Northwest leads the all-time series with the Bulldogs 131-39.

In last seasons' series, it was a pitchers series in Maryville as the Bulldogs took three of four from the Bearcats. Ryan Trimble and Jarrett Eiskina three consecutive complete game shutouts as Truman took the first two 3-0 and 1-0. Tyler Stefan followed by shutting out Northwest for six and two-thirds innings before the Stefan hit a batter with the bases loaded to fall 1-0. Truman then plated four runs in the top of the ninth to win the series 4-3.

Despite the offense hitting just .189 in the four games, Steven Rose, Jordan Howe and Drew Garwood each hit above .300 while Devon Myers scored three of the eight runs scored in the set. The Bearcats hit .163 as a team with 37 strikeouts.

Seniors Devon Myers and Steven Rose have had stellar careers against the Bearcats with Myers hitting .366 in 11 games and Rose hitting .372 in 12. Myers is 15-of-41 with 10 runs scored and a pair of doubles while Rose is 16-of-43 with a double and a triple.

Tyler Stefan is 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA but was a hard luck loser last season after pitching six and two-thirds innings allowing just four hits but seeing the only run of the game cross in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Jarrett Eiskina, who has returned to the mound in the last two series' tossed a complete-game shutout against the Bearcats last season allowing five hits and striking out 11.

Schedule Changes:
Truman's non-conference doubleheader with Maryville University that was rained out earlier this season has now been rescheduled for April 24th in Kirksville starting at 1:00 p.m.

Up Next:
The Bulldogs host Southwest Baptist University for a pair of doubleheaders next Friday and Saturday of Easter weekend and then wrap-up the home stand and the conference series with Lincoln at home the following Tuesday in Kirksville.

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