Kirksville, Mo. — The Truman State baseball team dropped all four games of its weekend series at Rockhurst, falling by scores of 11-1, 14-1, 6-1 and 15-12 at Loyola Park in Kansas City. The Bulldogs showed resilience throughout the weekend, particularly in Sunday's finale, but could not find enough offensive consistency to take a game against the Hawks.
Game 1 — Rockhurst 11, Truman 1 (Saturday, April 18)
Rockhurst's offense came alive in the fifth and sixth innings to turn a scoreless game into a comfortable victory. Isaac Epp started for the Bulldogs and kept the Hawks off the board through four innings before Rockhurst broke through with four runs in the fifth.
Kaden Jeffries singled to set things in motion, and Peyton Clerk scored on an error before Josh Syfert flew out for a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0. Michael Laudando then singled to left center to drive home both Afton Koch and Clerk, putting the Hawks ahead 4-0. Truman got one back in the sixth when Oliver Degenhardt scored on a balk by Landon Carr, who had otherwise been sharp throughout.
Rockhurst answered with six runs in the bottom of the sixth. Clerk tripled to right center for two runs, Syfert singled home another, and Colton Wemhoff added a sacrifice fly before Dakota Hanna capped the inning with a two-run double. Landon Carr earned the win for Rockhurst.
Game 2 — Rockhurst 14, Truman 1 (Saturday, April 18)
Rockhurst wasted no time in the afternoon game, erupting for five runs in the first inning and four more in the second to effectively put things out of reach early. Caden Carroll took the loss after allowing nine runs in 1.2 innings, with the Hawks stringing together four hits and drawing two walks to blow things open.
Colton Wemhoff got the first-inning damage started with an RBI double to score Michael Laudando, and Kaden Jeffries followed with a two-run single to plate both Dakota Hanna and Wemhoff. Peyton Clerk added a two-run single of his own, bringing the score to 5-0 after one. The Hawks kept rolling in the second, with Wemhoff again delivering an RBI double and Tyler Strongman adding a run-scoring double as Rockhurst pushed its lead to 9-0.
Avery Garmon hit a two-run home run to left in the fourth, and Jack Miller capped things with a two-run shot in the sixth. Truman's lone run came in the seventh on an RBI groundout by Evan Davis, scoring Oliver Degenhardt. Keller Costello earned the win for Rockhurst, tossing a complete seven innings while striking out eight.
Game 3 — Rockhurst 6, Truman 1 (Sunday, April 19)
Rockhurst used timely hitting and a strong performance from Brendan Rodis to take Sunday's opener. Rodis went the distance, allowing just one run on seven hits while striking out seven.
Truman jumped ahead in the first on an RBI single by Evan Davis that scored Oliver Degenhardt, giving the Bulldogs an early 1-0 lead. Rockhurst tied it in the second on a sacrifice fly that scored Avery Garmon, then took the lead for good in the third when Colton Wemhoff doubled down the left-field line to score both Afton Koch and Josh Syfert, making it 3-1.
Wemhoff continued to do damage throughout the afternoon. Dakota Hanna added an RBI single in the fifth, and Wemhoff struck again in the sixth with another two-run double to plate Koch and Peyton Clerk and push the final score to 6-1. Nick Phillips started for Truman and took the loss.
Game 4 — Rockhurst 15, Truman 12 (Sunday, April 19)
Sunday's finale was the most competitive game of the weekend and featured nearly every kind of baseball play imaginable. Truman led 8-7 heading into the seventh inning but could not hold on as Rockhurst scored eight runs over the final three frames to pull away.
Oliver Degenhardt doubled and scored on a Tyler Tieman groundout in the first to make it 1-0. Joey Fentress doubled home Reed Drabant in the second, and Tieman added a sacrifice fly in the third to score Degenhardt again, pushing the lead to 3-1.
Truman erupted for three more in the fifth as Tieman and Evan Davis came around to score before Shodai Nishihara stole home during a Reed Drabant stolen base attempt to put the Bulldogs up 6-2. Rockhurst chipped away and tied it 6-6 by the end of the sixth, with Syfert and Koch delivering back-to-back run-scoring singles.
Truman took the lead back in the seventh on a wild pitch and a Tyler Towe RBI single that plated Drabant to make it 8-7, but Rockhurst answered in the bottom half with a Tyler Strongman three-run home run off the left-field wall that put the Hawks ahead 11-8.
Nishihara gave Truman life with a two-run double in the eighth, scoring Gavin Schieffer and Tieman to cut it to 11-10. Rockhurst responded in the bottom of the inning with a Braeden Barbee two-run double and a Strongman sacrifice fly that extended the lead to 15-10. Evan Davis reached on a late error in the ninth that scored Tyler Towe to trim the deficit to 15-12, but the Bulldogs could not complete the rally.
Jack Pearson made a quality start before giving way to Hayden Holman in the sixth. Ian Junkin took the loss. Nishihara finished 2-for-5 with three RBI for Truman, and Drabant went 1-for-4 with two stolen bases and two runs scored.
Up Next:
Truman falls to 11-30 overall and 5-23 in GLVC play. The Bulldogs will host a non-conference weekend with Missouri Southern and Saginaw Valley coming to town.
#BulldogNation
