Griffons blanked by Mustangs, 11-0

Griffons’ shortstop Blaine DeMello, of Mililani, Hawaii, tags out Channing Mickey as he attempts to steal second base Thursday night at Lyons Stadium. Making the pinpoint throw to second base, was Griffons’ catcher Michael Pagano, of Pickerington, Ohio.

Nick Wright/Daily Mail

Behind Michael Lydon-Lorson’s complete-game shutout, the St. Joseph Mustangs roughed up the Nevada Griffons 11-0 in Friday night’s MINK League opener.

The road loss drops Nevada to 0-2 overall and 0-1 in MINK League-play, while St. Joseph improves to 3-0 overall (1-0 MINK).

The Mustangs went in front with two runs in the bottom of the second, as Jacob Richardson scored on an Ethan Vanderpool wild pitch, followed by an infield error allowing Jeremiah Figueroa to cross home plate as St. Joe led 2-0.

Southpaw Jake Fraze replaced Vanderpool on the mound in the fourth. Fraze shut down the Mustangs, tossing three scoreless innings, allowing just one hit while striking out two.

St. Joseph, however, broke the game wide open in the seventh, plating five runs off relief pitcher Jonah Smith. With the bases loaded, Brady Anderson’s bases clearing double into left-center field put the Mustangs on top 5-0. Following Anderson, Kyle Ulrich’s run-scoring single staked Lydon-Lorson to a 6-0 lead.

Leading by seven runs in the eighth, Drew Standaford, in his first at-bat of the season, clubbed a Thomas Swafford offering into the right field bullpen. Standaford’s three-run blast handed the Mustangs a 10-0 advantage. The final run of the contest came courtesy of a Kaleb Reed RBI single.

On the mound, Lydon-Lorson was electric, allowing only three hits while striking out 11 over nine innings. Nick Kreutzer supplied two of the Griffons three hits, as the Arkansas Baptist product collected a pair of doubles.

Vanderpool (0-1), who allowed two runs (one earned) while striking out two over three innings of work, was saddled with the loss.

Nevada’s rotation is a work-in-progress, as the Griffons used five pitchers in Thursday’s season-opener against the Midwest Nationals, followed by four pitchers in Friday’s contest –– yielding 11 runs on 11 hits to the Mustangs.

It’s also been a struggle defensively in the early-going, as the Griffons have committed five errors over the first two games.

Nevada will look to get on track tonight, as they host the Ozark Generals for a twinbill. The first of the two scheduled seven inning contests is set for 6 p.m.

Upcoming schedule

The Griffons have a busy upcoming slate, as they have games scheduled for 13 of the next 14 days. Sunday, the Griffons are set to host the Sedalia Bombers at 7 p.m.

Nevada then gets a rare off day on Monday, followed by home contests with Branson and Ozark Tuesday and Wednesday, before embarking on a three-game MINK League road series with Chillicothe, June 8-10.