The Truman State baseball team put together one of its most impressive offensive performances of the season on Tuesday, plating 20 runs on 24 hits in a 20-14 victory over Missouri Western State at Griffon Park. Eight different Bulldogs drove in at least one run, with Tyler Tieman, Joey Fentress, and Jax Markham leading the way.
Truman drew first blood in the top of the first when a Fentress single to center plated Oliver Degenhardt, but Missouri Western answered in a big way in the bottom half, sending eight batters to the plate and scoring five times to take a 5-1 lead. Cantu's two-run single and an RBI walk by Huettl were the key blows in the inning.
The Bulldogs responded emphatically in the second. Gavin Schieffer worked a walk and eventually advanced to third, and when Markham came to the plate he unloaded a three-run home run to left field to suddenly make it a one-run game. Fentress then added a two-run single to center to give Truman a 6-5 lead it would never relinquish.
Truman kept rolling in the third, scoring four more runs to push the lead to 10-5. Schieffer's hustle produced an unearned run, and Nick Steurer followed with a sacrifice fly. The big blow came from Tieman, who crushed a two-run home run to center field to cap the inning.
After a quiet fourth, the Bulldogs extended their cushion with four more in the fifth. Fentress drove in another run with a single, Schieffer followed with an RBI single of his own, and Tyler Towe put the game seemingly out of reach with a two-run double to right-center to make it 14-5. Missouri Western clawed back with three runs in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI double by Shannahan, an RBI single by Cantu, and a Requejo triple, trimming it to 14-8. Evan Davis added an insurance run with an RBI single in the sixth to make it 15-8.
Truman put the game away with two more in the eighth when Tieman capped a tremendous day with his second home run of the game, a two-run shot to right-center that scored Steurer and pushed the lead to 17-8. The Bulldogs then added three more in the ninth, highlighted by a Steurer two-run triple that scored Markham and Towe to make it 20-10. Missouri Western made things interesting with four runs in the bottom of the ninth, including home runs from Shannahan and Cantu, but it wasn't enough.
Tieman finished 4-for-6 with two home runs and four RBI to lead all hitters. Fentress went 4-for-6 with four RBI of his own. Markham was 3-for-6 with three RBI and a home run, Schieffer went 3-for-4 with a triple and scored four times, and Degenhardt reached base five times and scored four runs. Alex Wittenauer earned the win in relief, tossing four solid innings and allowing just three runs.
Up Next:
The Bulldogs improve to 6-11 on the season and will look to carry Tuesday's offensive outburst into the rest of their spring schedule. Truman State will stay on the road for a four game series this weekend against UMSL with two doubleheaders both on Friday and Saturday.
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