Grace Falls In Diamond Doubleheader
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
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Photo by Gary Nieter, Times-Union
Grace College senior first baseman Thomas Boyd hits an RBI single in the third inning of Tuesday's first game of a doubleheader in Winona Lake.
WINONA LAKE -ÊWhen the Grace College baseball team hosted St. Francis in a Tuesday doubleheader at Miller Field, the Lancers had a chance to improve to .500 on the season with a sweep.
However, St. Francis had other plans as the Cougars defeated the Lancers 5-4 and 7-4 to get the sweep.
In the opener, St. Francis jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after the top of the second inning. But Grace fought back in the bottom of the inning.
Ryan Sturm started Grace's half of the second with a single, and a sacrifice by John Kessinger moved Sturm to second.
Then Doug Evans hit a two-run homer to put Grace within one, 3-2.
St. Francis got back on the ball in the third, scoring two more runs to take a 5-2 lead.
The Lancers still didn't give in. In the bottom of the third, Mike Cox hit a single, and Kenny Jennings reached first on a walk to put ducks on the pond for Thomas Boyd. A Boyd single sent Cox home, making the score 5-3 in favor of the Cougars.
Then the game remained scoreless until the bottom of the seventh inning.
Down 5-3, Grace started the bottom of the seventh with a single by Chad Gerard. Gabe Koser followed with a single of his own, and a sacrifice by Greg Hannah moved the runners to second and third.
The game got interesting when Cox hit a sacrifice fly to left field, sending Gerard across the plate to cut St. Francis' lead to one, 5-4, with two outs.
However, the Lancers got the third out of the game before another run could score, and St. Francis escaped with a 5-4 win.
The second game was another story for the Lancers. Like game one, St. Francis jumped out to an early lead.
The Cougars jumped out to a 3-0 lead after one inning. Then the wheels seemed to fall of the Grace machine.
Five errors in the second inning led to four St. Francis runs, giving the Cougars a 7-0 advantage.
"We struggled in the first two innings before settling down," said Grace coach Dennis Boyd.
That's where the score stayed until the bottom of the fifth inning.
Four straight singles by Gerard, Thom Newhard, Koser and Hannah led to two Lancer runs, making the score 7-2.
Grace tried to make another comeback in the bottom of the seventh. Newhard singled, and Hannah was hit by a pitch to put two runners on base with two outs.
A double by Caleb Brown sent Newhard across the plate, and then a single by Chris Garman sent Hannah home.
But again, Grace was unable to score enough runs for a full comeback and St. Francis captured a 7-4 victory.
"We are still just not playing our game," said Boyd. "We're too tense, and we are not making the routine plays. We're hitting the ball hard, we're just hitting it right at people. We have good pitching. We're just not putting all parts of the game together yet.
"It's frustrating. I know how good we are. We'll just keep our heads in there and keep fighting."
Grace falls to 6-10 overall and 1-5 in the Mid-Central Conference, while St. Francis improves to 7-11 overall and 6-4 in MCC play. The Lancers travel to Marian for a 1 p.m. Thursday doubleheader.
ST. FRANCIS 5, GRACE 4, Game 1
St. Francis AB R H RBI
Whetstone 4 1 2 1
Scherer 3 0 1 0
Emmett 3 0 1 1
Klima 2 1 1 0
Elwer 3 1 2 0
Dee 4 1 1 0
Lee 3 0 1 2
O'Donnell 2 1 1 1
Hofer 3 0 1 0
Totals 27 5 11 5
Grace AB R H RBI
Koser 4 0 1 0
Hannah 2 0 0 0
Cox 2 1 1 1
Jennings 3 0 0 0
Boyd 3 0 1 1
Sturm 3 1 2 0
Kessinger 2 0 0 0
Evans 3 1 2 2
Tribby 2 0 0 0
Gerard 1 1 1 0
Totals 25 4 8 4
St. Francis 122 000 0 - 5 11 1
Grace 021 000 1 - 4 8 0
DP -ÊNone. LOB -ÊSt. Francis 8, Grace 6. 2B - O'Donnell, Whetstone. HR -ÊEvans.
IP H R ER BB SO
St. Francis
Emmett (W) 7 8 4 4 2 3
Grace
Pressley (L) 3 8 5 5 1 2
McCall 4 3 2 2 0 3
WP -ÊEmmett 1, Pressley 1. Balk - Emmett.
ST. FRANCIS 7, GRACE 4, Game 2
St. Francis AB R H RBI
Whetstone 4 2 2 0
Scherer 4 2 1 1
Emmett 3 2 0 0
Klima 2 0 1 0
Elwer 3 0 2 2
Lee 4 0 0 0
O'Donnell 3 0 1 0
Privett 4 1 0 0
O'Keefe 4 0 0 0
Totals 32 7 7 3
Grace AB R H RBI
Koser 4 1 2 1
Hannah 3 1 1 0
Cox 3 0 1 0
Brown 1 0 1 1
Sturm 1 0 0 0
Garman 3 0 1 1
Boyd 2 0 1 0
Leonard 2 0 0 0
Tribby 3 0 1 0
Evans 3 0 0 0
Gerard 3 1 1 0
Newhard 3 1 2 0
Totals 31 4 11 3
St. Francis 340 000 0 - 7 8 2
Grace 000 020 2 - 4 10 10
DP -ÊNone. LOB -ÊSt. Francis 8, Grace 7. 2B -ÊScherer, Elwer, Brown.
IP H R ER BB SO
St. Francis
Rigle (W) 7 10 4 4 0 1
Grace
Christean (L) 2 6 7 3 3 2
Hummel 5 2 0 0 1 2
HB -ÊRigle 1. WP - Christean 2. [[In-content Ad]]
!photo0404016.JPG
Photo by Gary Nieter, Times-Union
Grace College senior first baseman Thomas Boyd hits an RBI single in the third inning of Tuesday's first game of a doubleheader in Winona Lake.
WINONA LAKE -ÊWhen the Grace College baseball team hosted St. Francis in a Tuesday doubleheader at Miller Field, the Lancers had a chance to improve to .500 on the season with a sweep.
However, St. Francis had other plans as the Cougars defeated the Lancers 5-4 and 7-4 to get the sweep.
In the opener, St. Francis jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after the top of the second inning. But Grace fought back in the bottom of the inning.
Ryan Sturm started Grace's half of the second with a single, and a sacrifice by John Kessinger moved Sturm to second.
Then Doug Evans hit a two-run homer to put Grace within one, 3-2.
St. Francis got back on the ball in the third, scoring two more runs to take a 5-2 lead.
The Lancers still didn't give in. In the bottom of the third, Mike Cox hit a single, and Kenny Jennings reached first on a walk to put ducks on the pond for Thomas Boyd. A Boyd single sent Cox home, making the score 5-3 in favor of the Cougars.
Then the game remained scoreless until the bottom of the seventh inning.
Down 5-3, Grace started the bottom of the seventh with a single by Chad Gerard. Gabe Koser followed with a single of his own, and a sacrifice by Greg Hannah moved the runners to second and third.
The game got interesting when Cox hit a sacrifice fly to left field, sending Gerard across the plate to cut St. Francis' lead to one, 5-4, with two outs.
However, the Lancers got the third out of the game before another run could score, and St. Francis escaped with a 5-4 win.
The second game was another story for the Lancers. Like game one, St. Francis jumped out to an early lead.
The Cougars jumped out to a 3-0 lead after one inning. Then the wheels seemed to fall of the Grace machine.
Five errors in the second inning led to four St. Francis runs, giving the Cougars a 7-0 advantage.
"We struggled in the first two innings before settling down," said Grace coach Dennis Boyd.
That's where the score stayed until the bottom of the fifth inning.
Four straight singles by Gerard, Thom Newhard, Koser and Hannah led to two Lancer runs, making the score 7-2.
Grace tried to make another comeback in the bottom of the seventh. Newhard singled, and Hannah was hit by a pitch to put two runners on base with two outs.
A double by Caleb Brown sent Newhard across the plate, and then a single by Chris Garman sent Hannah home.
But again, Grace was unable to score enough runs for a full comeback and St. Francis captured a 7-4 victory.
"We are still just not playing our game," said Boyd. "We're too tense, and we are not making the routine plays. We're hitting the ball hard, we're just hitting it right at people. We have good pitching. We're just not putting all parts of the game together yet.
"It's frustrating. I know how good we are. We'll just keep our heads in there and keep fighting."
Grace falls to 6-10 overall and 1-5 in the Mid-Central Conference, while St. Francis improves to 7-11 overall and 6-4 in MCC play. The Lancers travel to Marian for a 1 p.m. Thursday doubleheader.
ST. FRANCIS 5, GRACE 4, Game 1
St. Francis AB R H RBI
Whetstone 4 1 2 1
Scherer 3 0 1 0
Emmett 3 0 1 1
Klima 2 1 1 0
Elwer 3 1 2 0
Dee 4 1 1 0
Lee 3 0 1 2
O'Donnell 2 1 1 1
Hofer 3 0 1 0
Totals 27 5 11 5
Grace AB R H RBI
Koser 4 0 1 0
Hannah 2 0 0 0
Cox 2 1 1 1
Jennings 3 0 0 0
Boyd 3 0 1 1
Sturm 3 1 2 0
Kessinger 2 0 0 0
Evans 3 1 2 2
Tribby 2 0 0 0
Gerard 1 1 1 0
Totals 25 4 8 4
St. Francis 122 000 0 - 5 11 1
Grace 021 000 1 - 4 8 0
DP -ÊNone. LOB -ÊSt. Francis 8, Grace 6. 2B - O'Donnell, Whetstone. HR -ÊEvans.
IP H R ER BB SO
St. Francis
Emmett (W) 7 8 4 4 2 3
Grace
Pressley (L) 3 8 5 5 1 2
McCall 4 3 2 2 0 3
WP -ÊEmmett 1, Pressley 1. Balk - Emmett.
ST. FRANCIS 7, GRACE 4, Game 2
St. Francis AB R H RBI
Whetstone 4 2 2 0
Scherer 4 2 1 1
Emmett 3 2 0 0
Klima 2 0 1 0
Elwer 3 0 2 2
Lee 4 0 0 0
O'Donnell 3 0 1 0
Privett 4 1 0 0
O'Keefe 4 0 0 0
Totals 32 7 7 3
Grace AB R H RBI
Koser 4 1 2 1
Hannah 3 1 1 0
Cox 3 0 1 0
Brown 1 0 1 1
Sturm 1 0 0 0
Garman 3 0 1 1
Boyd 2 0 1 0
Leonard 2 0 0 0
Tribby 3 0 1 0
Evans 3 0 0 0
Gerard 3 1 1 0
Newhard 3 1 2 0
Totals 31 4 11 3
St. Francis 340 000 0 - 7 8 2
Grace 000 020 2 - 4 10 10
DP -ÊNone. LOB -ÊSt. Francis 8, Grace 7. 2B -ÊScherer, Elwer, Brown.
IP H R ER BB SO
St. Francis
Rigle (W) 7 10 4 4 0 1
Grace
Christean (L) 2 6 7 3 3 2
Hummel 5 2 0 0 1 2
HB -ÊRigle 1. WP - Christean 2. [[In-content Ad]]