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Griffons offense silent in 6-1 loss to St. Joe
Despite the temperature hovering in the low 90’s Sunday evening, the Nevada Griffons offense was chilled by St. Joseph Mustangs pitching in a 6-1 defeat at Lyons Stadium.
The Griffons failed to capitalize on a golden opportunity to make up ground on the Ozark Generals, who reside in first-place in the MINK South division. The second-place Griffons currently sit three games behind Ozark, as they fall to 18-18 in MINK League-play and 18-21 overall. Meanwhile, the Mustangs of the North division, are the first team in the MINK League to reach 30 wins, improving to 30-11 overall (24-10 MINK League).
Through five innings Nevada was shut down by St. Joe starter Eleazar Rojas. Rojas, making his first start of the season, had seen only limited action, entering the contest having allowed four earned runs in seven and one-third innings of work. Rojas, however, was throwing hard, topping out at 93 miles per hour.
Griffons manager Ryan Mansfield was not pleased with his club’s effort, as Nevada’s lone run of the contest came in the bottom of the ninth.
“Not very enjoyable, didn’t have a whole lot of energy,” said Mansfield. “We had our chances as usual and just didn’t make the best of it.”
Mansfield continued: “All the emotions, the body language was not very good tonight. Honestly, it was pretty embarrassing; just the way we conducted ourselves on the field. Win, lose, or draw, I expect them to carry themselves correctly and that was not done tonight. I made my point known (after the game), we better get a better effort (tonight against Joplin) or we’ll have some changes.”
Griffons starter Jake Fraze kept Nevada in the contest early, racking up four strike outs though three frames. An errant pickoff throw by Fraze in the third led to Patrick Dillon advancing into scoring position. Josh Lincoln’s single to right-center field plated Dillon, as the Mustangs went on top 1-0.
Fraze encountered trouble in the fifth, yielding a walk and single to open the frame. A Fraze wild pitch then advanced both runners 90-feet. Fraze then loaded the bases, drilling Dillon in the back. After the hit-by-pitch, Fraze was replaced in by Pitt State product Dante Richardson. A Richardson wild pitch scored Jacob Richardson from third, followed by a Brody Santilli RBI-sacrifice fly to center field, putting the Mustangs up 3-0.
The remainder of the offensive damage came in the ninth off of Griffons closer David Ruot. With one out Matt Wollnick’s bases loaded single plated Jeremiah Figueroa and Richardson, handing the Mustangs a 5-0 advantage. St. Joe then padded its cushion to six runs when a Ruot wild pitch scored the speedy Lincoln from third.
The Griffons finally broke through in the ninth when an infield error allowed Marco Young to score from third.
Rojas (1-0), who struck out five while allowing four hits over five innings of work, notched his first victory of the season. Fraze (3-2), a MINK League All-Star selection, was saddled with the loss, allowing three earned runs and three hits, while striking out three and walking three over four innings.
Griffons relief pitchers Richardson, Cam Fowler and Kory Haught combined for four scoreless innings, allowing just two hits while striking out seven. At the dish Nevada’s Nick Kreutzer finished 1-for-2, while Wollnick was 1-for-3 with a pair of RBIs.
Note: See Wednesday’s edition of the Daily Mail for a recap of the Griffons Monday night road contest with the Joplin Outlaws