Week Recap Mar 8-13

The Trojans traveled to sunny Clearwater, FL, for their Spring Break trip. The Winning Inning Baseball Academy again did a stellar job hosting a wonderful week of baseball.

Monday, March 8:

In their first game of the week, the Trojans took on Purdue University - North Central (IN). Jacob Genz (6 K, 7 H) took the ball, going 6 1/3 innings and picking up the win, with Zach Bedsworth coming in to shut the door and give the Trojans the 6-5 victory. Josh Pierce provided the early offense with his legs, stealing two bases and scoring on a wild pitch to plate the first run of the day. HLG then put up 5 in the fifth, with 2 hits and a run scored by Josey Garnett and an Andrus Kuilan RBI as the highlights. The Trojans improved to 2-3 with the victory.

Game 2 had the Trojans matched up with Northwestern University (IA), the first of three games that would pit these two teams together. Northwestern got the leg up, knocking off the Trojans 8-5. Josey Garnett gave four solid innings (5 K, 3 ER) while Ryan Crouse got the tough-luck loss, only giving up 1 ER. Bryant Fernetti had 2 hits and an RBI, with Josh Jackson scoring 2 runs and swiping 2 bases. HLG fell to to 2-4.

Tuesday, March 9:

Day 2 had Justin McGhee back on the mound for HLG, trying to avenge the previous day's loss to Northwestern. Without his "best stuff," McGhee still managed a 7-inning, 5 hit performance that kept the Trojans in the game. HLG took advantage of the pitching performance, winning 5-4 in dramatic fashion on a Justin Miller infield single, followed by a Northwestern error that scored a hustling Josh Jackson. Matt Savage was 1-2 on the day with a 2-run home run, his first as a collegian. HLG improved to 3-4.

In the Trojan's second game of the day, Valley Forge Christian College (PA) stood in the way of victory. Eric "Wally" Bruening (4 1/3 IP, 7 K, 1 H)took over with 2 outs in the second inning and pitched his way to his first collegiate win, 9-3. Josh Jackson had a field day on the bases, stealing 4 bags and Clint Hamilton went 3-3 with 2 doubles in his varsity debut. HLG climbed back to 4-4 with the win.

Wednesday, March 10:

This day was not as kind to HLG as the previous had been. HLG found themselves matched up with Bethel University (TN) in the morning game. The Trojans jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first, with a big 2 RBI double by Tyler Leihenseder causing the most damage. Bethel answered with 7 runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning and they never looked back. The final was 12-6 in favor of Bethel. HLG fell to 4-5.

The afternoon proved to be just as unkind, with help from Northwestern's offense and lackluster pitching and defensive performances by the Trojans. HLG answered a Northwestern 3 run top of the first with 5 of their own in the bottom half, capped by an Andrus Kuilan 2 RBI single. However, Northwestern jumped right back on top with 4 more in the second. Things got worse and not better, but it finally ended, in 5 innings, with HLG on the short side of a 19-7 score. The Trojans fell to 4-6.

Thursday, March 11:

HLG looked to get back in the "W" column and avenge Wednesday's loss to Bethel in their seventh game of the week. Again, the Trojans struck first on a 2 RBI double by Bryant Fernetti in the top of the first inning. After falling behind, 3-2, HLG rallied for a 5-run inning in the third, punctuated by Matt Savage's 2 RBI triple. HLG headed to the field in the bottom of the fifth inning with a 9-6 lead, but couldn't hold on, eventually falling to Bethel again, 18-9. The Trojans fell to 4-7.

Friday, March 12:

Games cancelled due to rain.

Saturday, March 13:

The Trojans hoped to grab a couple of wins on their way out of town, taking on Trinity Christian College (IL) in a double header on Saturday. Justin McGhee took the ball again for the Trojans, and told his teammates he'd get them back on to the winning ways. He was right. McGhee threw 5 solid innings, allowing only 3 ER. The offense showed up in a big way as well, plating 16 runs. Tyler Leihenseder and Marc Luttrell were both 3-3 while Matt Savage and Andrus Kuilan drove in 3 runs a piece. HLG improved to 5-7 with the 16-4 win.

Jacob Genz got the ball for the second game of twin bill and tried to jump on where Justin McGhee left off. Trinity notched 3 runs in the first and 2 runs (both unearned) in the second, which was not what Genz was looking for. He settled in, however, struck out 11 with issuing a walk, and earned the 8-5, complete game win. Matt Savage had 2 hits, a run scored and an RBI. Travis Mundahl went 3-3 with an RBI as well. Marc Luttrell led the RBI category with 2, including a beautifully executed suicide squeeze. HLG finished up the trip south 5-4, coming home with a 6-7 record overall.

Week Recap Mar 1-6

The Trojans picked up their first win of the season, 10-0, against Central Methodist on Mar 4 in a game that was slated for 9-innings, but ended in 8 with the enforcement of the 10-run rule. Justin McGhee got the win with a great outing (5 IP, 8 K, 5 H, 0 BB) and Jacob Genz got the 3-inning save (3 K, 2 H) in the shut-out. Josey Garnett led the offensive charge with 3 hits, 3 RBI, and 1 run scored. Tyler Leihenseder added 2 RBI and Levi Graham had two each of runs, RBI, and stolen bases. The Trojans improve to 1-3 on the year with their next action coming in Clearwater, FL, at the Clearwater Invitational Tournament.

Week Recap Feb 22-27

Hannibal-LaGrange kicked the season off with a three game series versus Mid-Continent University, in Mayfield, KY on Thursday and Friday of last week.

In Game 1, Mid-Continent struck first with three runs in the 2nd inning. Trojan starter, Justin McGhee, settled in after the shaky inning and didn't allow another run over his 5 innings pitched. The Trojans bounced back with a run in the top of the 3rd thanks to some good base running by Josh Jackson and a two-out single off the bat of Marc Luttrell. The Trojans weren't done, taking the lead in the 4th with a three-run homer to right-center off the bat of Andrus Kuilan. The two-out bomb drove in Levi Graham and Tyler Leihenseder. The 4-3 score held until the sixth when Thad McVeigh got into the action with a pinch-hit lead off home run to right. The Trojans struck again in the sixth, extending the lead to 6-3 on a two-out base hit by Matt Savage with Jackson scoring on the play.

In the bottom of the sixth, Mid-Continent came roaring back. With the bases loaded, and no outs, Roy Whitehead, who had replaced Justin McGhee, got his first out of the inning via a strikeout. Zach Bedsworth was called on next to get out of the jam. A weak ground ball up the middle seemed like it would do the job, but somehow it got through, scoring two runs, cutting the HLG lead to 6-5. With the bases loaded again, this time with two down, Chris Kuenzle came in to stop the bleeding. Again, a fly ball to center seemed to do the trick. However, a poorly placed sun interfered with the would-be catch and two more runs crossed the plate. After another run was plated on another base hit, the Trojans found themselves down 8-6 going into their last at bat.

The Trojans again rose to the call with two outs. Thad McVeigh singled to center, followed by a single to left by Tyler Leihenseder. Kuilan followed them up by lining his first pitch down the left field line, setting Josh Pierce and Andrew Bonnel, who had come in to pinch run, off to the races. Pierce scored easily and Bonnel was waved around 3rd, but he was gunned down at the plate on a good play and relay throw by the 3rd basemen, ending the game at a 7-8 Trojan disadvantage.

Roy Whitehead ended up with the loss (0-1), after being charged with 2 earned runs in 1/3 of an innning.

In Game 2, Jacob Genz took the ball for the Trojans. His 2 earned runs over 5 innings had the game tied, going into bottom of the 6th, with Justin Miller and Travis Mundahl driving in runs for the Trojans. The 6th inning proved to be the Trojans' Achilles heel again, as Ryan Crouse took the mound. Crouse worked into a jam, but looked as though he was going to get out of it, as a two out fly ball headed to right. The sun played a factor again, the ball was not caught, and Mid-Continent ended up scoring four runs in the inning. The Trojans tried to rally in the 7th, but Bonnel and Justin Miller were stranded and 6-2 was the final.

Ryan Crouse took the loss, although he was not charged with an earned run in his inning of work.

Friday, Elvin Chavez got the ball in the 9-inning, single-game series finale. Chavez continued the run of solid starting pitching performances, getting through 5 2/3 innings and allowing only 2 earned runs while striking out 2. The Trojans notched single runs in the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 9th innings, with RBI coming from Bryant Fernetti (2), Levi Graham, and Matt Savage. After two scoreless innings of relief, Josey Garnett, took to the mound in the bottom of the 9th with a 5-3 lead. The inning, and the game, ended on a Mid-Continent grand slam that sealed the sweep, 8-5.

The Trojans hoped to get another shot at their first win on Saturday, but GCS Stadium in St. Louis proved to be unplayable. The games with Clarke College will not be rescheduled.

This week, HLG was scheduled to travel to Missouri Valley College on Wednesday, but the weather has gotten in the way again, cancelling that game as well. The last remaining game on the docket before Spring Break is a JV contest to be played at Central Methodist University on Thursday, with a double-header starting at 5:00 PM. Stayed tuned to www.twitter.com/HLGBaseball for updates.