The Warsaw baseball team played host to Northern Lakes Conference leading Mishawaka Tuesday night, taking part in a highly competitive, clean game. The contest stayed close for the first six innings before the Cavemen exploded offensively in the seventh to pull away for a 6-2 victory. The Tigers are now 11-8-1 this spring, 6-4 in the NLC. 

Warsaw managed to draw nine walks in the game but was only able to total just five hits, leaving ten runners on base.

Neither team was able to get onto the scoreboard in the first inning. Warsaw starter Reed Nelson was able to generate some soft contact from Mishawaka hitters, leading to a quick inning that saw only one Caveman reach base. The Tigers threatened to do some damage in the bottom half of the inning as leadoff man Jette Woodward and two hitter Josh Shapiro reached on walks. The rally would be cut short however, as Mishawaka third baseman Cooper Pritchett made a nice snag to jumpstart a double play and avoid any further trouble.

After an uneventful second inning, the visitors would break through and score the first runs of the game in the third. After a couple of base hits put runners on second and third with just one out for Mishawaka, Nelson would battle to get a big second out on a fly ball in foul territory that was handled by Cohen Heady. But Nelson would not escape unscathed, as Caveman first baseman Matt Pelletier roped a ball into left to give the conference leaders a 2-0 lead. 

The Tigers were able to threaten in the bottom half of the inning, loading the bases thanks to the team’s first hit of the game, a double by Woodward, as well as a couple of walks by Mishawaka starter Tommy Harringer. The rally did not produce any runs though, as the Cavemen got out of the jam on a Tiger groundout. 

In the bottom of the fourth, Warsaw threatened once again as walks continued to be a serious problem for the visitors. Harringer would give three straight Tiger hitters free passes with two outs in the inning, giving Warsaw yet another opportunity with the bases loaded. But similar to the previous inning, the rally would end there, as Woodward would fly out to deep center field for the final out of the frame. 

Despite the rough ending to each of the previous two rallies, Warsaw was able to keep momentum as Nelson continued to keep them in the game. After the hurler’s second straight 1-2-3 inning heading into the bottom of the fifth, the Tigers were finally able to break through and get onto the scoreboard. With Kellan Bailey standing on second base not long after roping a single, Heady would smack a ball into left field for his second hit of the game. Bailey would score, cutting the lead in half and putting the Tigers in a prime position to pounce in the final two frames.

The Cavemen did not let the game stay that close for long. A double in the top of the seventh inning would score two more runs and open up the floodgates for the visitors, as Mishawaka extended the lead to five, the largest deficit the Tigers had seen up to that point.