The Observer, April 14, 2006
Volume XXXVIII, Issue 24
Lack of clutch hitting costs Spartans in doubleheader
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There was a lot of baseball played at Case on Monday. The Spartans had two seven-inning games scheduled that day against Penn State Behrend. The afternoon quickly became the longest one in the history of Nobby's Ballpark as the two games both featured extra innings. The two teams combined to play 19 innings, score 14 runs, pound out 33 hits and commit 13 errors in six hours of baseball action. In both games, Case jumped out to 2-0 leads in the early innings but were unable to hold onto the advantage.
Seniors Tim Koenig and Max Briggs were both able to score in the bottom of the first in game one when sophomore third baseman Kevin Haley hit a two-out, two-run single.
Behrend was able to get on the board with two singles in the top of the third and cut the Case lead to 2-1. The Lions tied the game in the top of the sixth inning when two singles and a stolen base led to a run.
The Spartans wasted an opportunity to respond in the bottom of the sixth when Haley began the inning with a single, but was picked off of first base. After the out, sophomore Jamal Mahmud singled down the right field line to reach base. He advanced to second on a single by sophomore second baseman Kevin Sudnik. Two strikeouts ended the scoring threat.
In the top of the ninth, the Lions got two singles with one out before a double by Ryan McNelly gave Behrend a 4-2 lead.
Case was unable to rally in the bottom of the ninth and junior John Thuermer took the loss for the Spartans despite a solid outing. Thuermer threw the complete game giving up eight hits and four runs. He struck out four Lions on the afternoon.
Game two against Behrend was equally as frustrating as the game was called after 10 innings with a 4-4 score due to darkness.
In the bottom of the third inning, Case jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Junior catcher Marshall Hampton singled to start the inning before senior right fielder Chris Sisson crushed a ball into the right center gap for an RBI triple. Sisson scored on a wild pitch and Case took an early lead.
Behrend responded in the top of the fourth with a run of its own as two singles and a fielder's choice cut into the Spartan lead, 2-1. Case responded in the bottom of the fourth as two errors allowed freshman Zak Hourmouzis to score after being hit by a pitch. Behrend scored single runs in the sixth and seventh innings to tie the game at 3-3.
The Lions took the lead in the top of the ninth as three singles allowed a run to score.
Case responded in the bottom of the ninth when senior left fielder Josh Knipp doubled down the line with one out. Knipp was able to score when freshman outfielder Jonathan Fagert reached on a fielder's choice and a throwing error enabled the runners to advance.
Case had a chance in the bottom of the 10th to score with the bases loaded with one out. However, a strikeout and groundout ruined any scoring chances.
The Spartans were not able to take advantage of a strong pitching performance by Rich Mullen, who allowed two earned runs and no walks in eight innings. Mullen, not an overpowering pitcher, did a good job of keeping the team in the game with an assortment of off-speed pitches.
"Warming up, my slider felt pretty good, and I was able to throw it for strikes," he said.
Ultimately, though, the Spartans knew that, with a few more clutch hits, the outcome of both games would have been different.
"We just didn't get the clutch hits when we needed to," said Marshall Hampton. "Everything was there for us to win the game. They were giving us errors and extra outs, but we just didn't take advantage of them."
The Spartans will look to rebound with a busy schedule of games next week. The highlight of the week will be the Wednesday game at Jacobs Field against Hiram College with a 12:30 p.m. start.
