Skip To Main Content
Skip To Main Content

Truman State University Athletics

12BsBNotes-SBU

Baseball

Bulldogs Pick Up Big Wins To Earn Split With Bearcats

Complete Notes (.pdf)
Live Stats
 
KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Bulldog baseball team got a dominating pitching performance in the 1-0 opener and pulled out a six-run seventh inning rally to win 8-7 and take two to earn a series split with Southwest Baptist University on Saturday. Truman will host Lincoln in a conference twinbill on Tuesday.
 
Truman Series Stats | Southwest Baptist Series Stats
 
Game 1 Recap | Box Score
Southwest Baptist 4, Truman 2
 
Southwest Baptist grabbed the momentum and used it for a four-run sixth inning to down the Bulldogs 4-2 in the opener.  Truman jumped on top with a pair of runs in the third as Steven Rose and Dan Plecki each collected RBI singles but the Bulldogs could not tack on any more as they left the bases loaded.  Logan Siegler (2-4) was cruising until the sixth when the top of the SBU order started things off with three straight hits. Ross Wolfe they singled in the tie breaking runs with one out. Mike Nielebeck (4-4) retired six of the last seven Truman hitters to pick up the complete-game win.
 
Game 2 Recap | Box Score
Southwest Baptist 6, Truman 4
 
The Bearcats struck early in game two as the first four reached against starter Bret Gerstner (1-2). AN RBI single by Drew Miller however was the only damage done as Gerstner struck out the final hitter to leave the bases loaded. A pair of RBI singles in the second put SBU up 3-0. Daniel Jewett drove in Steven Rose with two-outs in the fourth and Devon Myers belted his second home run and 11th of his career to right field to tie the game up. Jacob Estes led off the sixth with a solo home run and the Bearcats added another in the seventh and one in the ninth. Jordan Howe got Truman to within two with a two-out RBI single in the ninth that plated Myers. Dustin Caplette (4-2) pitched eight innings and Jacob Sullinger notched the save.

Game 3 Recap | Box Score
Truman 1, Southwest Baptist 0
 
After being delayed for nearly two hours due to rain, Tim Lee tossed a career game as he pitched a four-hit complete-game shutout. Lee did not surrender a walk but hit three Bearcats while striking out a pair in his third win of the season.  The Bulldogs stranded a runner on third base in the each of the first three innings before finally getting the lone run on an errant throw by the pitcher, Cody Holzer on Daniel Jewett's swinging bunt that brought Devon Myers around from second. Truman left 10 on the base paths as the defense, behind Lee preserved the 1-0 win. Myers and Paul Trenhaile each had two of Truman's seven hits.
 
Game 4 Recap | Box Score
Truman 8, Southwest Baptist 7
 
A six-run rally in the bottom of the seventh propelled the Bulldogs to an 8-7 victory and a series split with Southwest Baptist. After spotting the Bearcats three in the first and four in the top of the seventh, a double by Devon Myers began the comeback. Jerod Hahn singled in Myers with one-out and Blake Marino followed with a base hit to left to score Pete Jurich. After a pitching change, Paul Trenhaile singled to score Hahn. Zak Larkin hit a two-out single to right that brought in Trenhaile for the tying run when the right fielder misplayed the ball. A batter later, Steven Rose got one between the wickets of the shortstop allowing Larkin to come in for the go-ahead run. Jarrett Eiskina pitched two and two-thirds innings to get the win in relief.



Series Preview:
For the second straight week, a team with Bearcats across the uniform will visit the Truman Baseball Park for a conference weekend, four-game series. Truman will host Southwest Baptist in a pair of doubleheaders starting on Friday at 1:00 p.m.

Last weekend, Truman split with the Northwest Missouri Bearcats sweeping Saturday's twinbill by scores of 4-2 and 3-2 but falling in Sunday's games 17-7 and 21-7.

The Bulldog offense hit .333 for the series with freshman Weston Lewis (.556) and Adam Manzer (.500) leading the way. In total, seven players hit over .300 in the four games. Freshman Zak Larkin drove in five runs and was key in the Bulldogs sweep on Saturday.

Defense and pitching were the Achilles heel this past weekend as Northwest hit .370 as a team and the Bulldogs committed 13 errors.

The Bearcats have been one of the surprise teams in the MIAA thus far with a 14-13-1 record after going 7-40 a season ago. Interim head coach Chris Martin has the Bearcats hitting .318 and senior Tyler Christophel fifth in the league with a .413 batting average.

SBU took three of four from Pittsburg State last weekend at home winning two, one-run games 13-12 and 3-2, dropping a 5-4 decision and winning the finale 9-4.

The Bearcats have had most of their success at home with all 14 wins coming in Bolivar. They are 9-9 in the MIAA and this will be only their second road trip this season when they come to Kirksville. They previous lost all four games in Topeka on March 24-25 when they faced Washburn University.

Last season, the Bulldog pitching dominated the series as Ryan Trimble and Jarrett Eiskina shutout the Bearcats with just three hits in the first two games as Truman won 2-0 and 12-0. The Bulldogs shutout the Bearcats for the first six innings on Saturday before winning 8-2 before the Bearcats finally broke through in the finale 11-9.

Series Schedule:
The four-game series will be played with a pair of doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday. Friday's twinbill will begin at 1:00 p.m. and Saturday at noon. The first game each day is scheduled for seven innings with a nine-inning contest to follow. If the seven inning game goes extra innings, the second game with revert to seven innings. For any changes to the scheduled, please check TrumanBulldogs.com or @TrumanAthletics on Twitter.

Truman In Conference Rankings (April 1):
  • The Bulldogs are 10th in hitting (.267) and seventh in pitching (6.42 ERA).
  • Freshman Bret Gerstner is eighth in the conference in ERA (2.54), 11th in opponent batting average (.248) and tied for second in hits allowed (25).
  • Freshman Weston Lewis is tied for second in the league with three triples and fellow freshman Zak Larkin is tied for sixth in stolen bases with eight.
Milestone Watch
  • Catcher Devon Myers is 14 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 two more hits and catch Josh Rubin (2003-06) with seven.
  • Myers is now tied for ninth 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 is eighth in his with 166 career hits, 87 runs scored, seven triples (fourth all-time) and 598 career at bats which is third all-time.
  • Pitcher Tyler Stefan is second all-time in appearances with 52 and is three away from Michael Stahir record set last season. He is tied for fifth in innings pitched with 189.2 and seventh in strikeouts with 134.
  • 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 .267 as a team this season with 32 extra base hits (24 doubles, five triples and three 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 seniors Devon Myers and Dan Plecki have the team's home runs this season.
  • The Bulldogs are slightly above 55% in stolen base attempts going 21-of-38 this season. As a team last year, the Bulldogs were 62% successful in stolen base attempts (51-of-82).
  • The pitching staff has a 6.42 earned run average through 26 games. Opponents are hitting .316 with 63 extra base hits, including 18 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 7.69 runs per game while Truman is scoring 3.46.
  • 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. Southwest Baptist:
The Bearcats have a one-game advantage in the all-time series with the Bulldogs. SBU has won 28 games while Truman has won 27 including three of four from the Bearcats last season in Bolivar.

Ryan Trimble pitched a complete-game, one-hit shutout in the opener as Dan Plecki belted his third home run of the season in a 2-0 win. In game two, the Bulldog offense exploded for 12 runs and the pitching was just as dominate as Jarrett Eiskina tossed a complete-game, two-hit shutout in a 12-0 victory.

The Bulldogs plated six runs in the first two innings and Tyler Stefan pitched five shutout innings in an 8-2 win but Truman could not complete the sweep as SBU scored 11 runs in the middle portion of the game and dealt Kyle Veazey a 11-9 loss.

Former 'Dog Michael Reese was 9-of-16 for a .563 batting average and Daniel Jewett (.500), Devon Myers (.462) and Dan Plecki (.417) led the Bulldogs offensively during the series. Truman had 12 extra base hits, including four triples, two by Steven Rose.

The Bulldog pitching staff struck out 25 Bearcat hitters while walking just seven and holding SBU to a .218 batting average.

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 will close out their four-game series with Lincoln University on Tuesday when they host the Blue Tigers for a doubleheader on Tuesday starting at 1:00 p.m. The two teams split the first two games of the series in Jefferson City with Lincoln winning 4-2 and the Bulldogs winning 11-5 on March 27th.
Print Friendly Version