KIRKSVILLE, Mo.—Brennan Perkins capped a dramatic day of baseball with an RBI single to score Luke Turner from second base in the bottom of the ninth on the last play of the day to give Truman a two game sweep of a doubleheader against Rockhurst Tuesday. Both games ended with an 8-7 score in Truman's favor, and both games came down to the wire.
Game One
Michael Daggett (1-4) picked up his first win this season with a solid five innings of work, allowing just three runs. Clayton Medlin (1-3) took the loss.
In the bottom of the first, Simon Murray led off with walk and then Tal Dean singled up the middle. With two on, Perkins opened the scoring with a three run shot into left field. Later, with two outs, Will Fromm singled to left and then a deep double by Turner to center brought Fromm in. Dylan Thompson followed with a double to left center and Turner came in to score, making it 5-0.
Rockhurst came close to getting on the board in the top of the third with runners on the corners and two outs, but Fromm made a great defensive play on a hard hit ball as he laid out to snag the ball and get the out.
Truman got on the board again in the bottom of the third as Jack Owens led off with a solo shot to make it 6-0. Holden Missey followed with a walk and moved to third on a wild pitch and groundout. With two outs Thompson singled up the middle to bring Missey in and make it 7-0.
In the top of the fourth, Rockhurst got on the board with an RBI single. They got two more in the top of the fifth to make it 7-3.
Thompson led off the bottom of the sixth with a single up the middle, then moved to second on a sac bunt with one out. Dean came up next and flared a single to right field and brought Thompson in to make it 8-3.
Jackson Mitchell had kept Rockhurst off the board in the sixth, and was relieved in the top of the seventh by Murray. He allowed the first three batters to reach and then a bases clearing triple made it 8-6. Missey then relieved Murray, moving to the mound from first. He got a strikeout, then conceded a run on an RBI groundout then struck out the final batter to seal the win and pick up the save.
Game Two
Alex Leary started for the Bulldogs, and went four innings with no runs allowed on four hits. But it was Drew Hnilo (1-0) who got the win as he shut the Hawks down in the top of the ninth to allow Truman to rally in the ninth. Tommy Jones (0-2) got the loss.
Leary and Hawks starter Jake Canent were breezing through early on, but in the bottom of the third Truman got on the board as Owens singled to left with runners on second and third to make it 2-0. Owens was thrown out digging for second on the play to end the inning.
Tucker Olson got a 1-2-3 fifth for Truman, and in the bottom of the frame Luke Roussel led off with a double and then Murray followed with a double to move Roussel to third. Dean singled to bring Roussel in and make it 3-0. Perkins then hit a sac fly to bring Murray in and make it 4-0.
From there, the Hawks scored seven straight runs. Down 7-4 in the bottom of the eighth, it was Missey who launched a moonshot over the fence in right with Perkins on first to make it 7-6.
After a leadoff walk Hnilo got three straight outs in the top of the ninth to keep it 7-6. With two outs, Murray launched a solo shot that had just enough to get over the fence in right and tie the game. Turner followed with a single to right center, then stole second. Perkins then ended the scoring with a single through the left side to bring Turner in for the winning run.
The Bulldogs will host Wisconsin-Parkside this weekend in a four game set starting this Friday at 3:00 at Truman Baseball Park.
