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Griffons win weekend pair at home
The Nevada Griffons got back into action after a three-day break as they hosted the Chillicothe Mudcats in a pair of weekend games. Though it took some time to work off the rust that came with that break, the Griffons were ultimately able to take both games, 5-3 and 9-8.
"It was extremely, um, tense again," head coach Ryan Mannsfield said of Saturday's contest. "I think that's going to be the nature of our entire season this summer. It's going to be a lot of close ball games and a lot of stress coming from the coaching staff."
The Griffons came into Saturday night's contest with a 4-4 record overall on the season, 4-3 in MINK League play and were supposed to have had an exhibition game Friday night against a team of Neosho area college students, but Mother Nature had other plans. More rain in the Neosho area prompted the cancellation of that contest, giving the Griffons another day of rest.
That extra day off looked as though it may have been too much as the Griffons defense struggled in the opening frame and the Mudcats were quickly able to take advantage. Chillicothe center fielder Matty Johnson was the first man to get to Griffons starter Cletus Jessup as he singled to shallow right center, but the real damage came two batters later when Brett Sowers took a fastball from Jessup over the left field fence to give the Mudcats the early 2-0 lead -- the 10th home run of the year surrendered by Griffons pitching.
The next two batters reached as a result of back-to-back defensive missteps by the Griffons, but Jessup was able to keep the Mudcats from getting on the board again as he got Brian Fisher to ground into a fielder's choice to end the inning.
The Griffons offense didn't take much time to get going in the home half of the frame as Taylor House led off the game with a sharply hit single to left field. The next two batters went down quickly, but John Lee was able to keep the inning alive while at the same time, cutting the Chillicothe lead in half with an RBI double down the left field line.
That lead didn't last long for the Mudcats as Nevada's offense was quickly able to get into a groove. Lee tied the score in the third inning with his second RBI of the game to start a rally for the Griffons that ultimately led to Nevada taking a 4-2 lead after Joe Lincoln and Thomas McAlpine each knocked in a run in the frame.
Sowers got the Mudcats back within a run in the top of the fifth as he blasted yet another long home run over the left field fence. This time, however, Sowers was the leadoff hitter, keeping the damage to a minimum.
The Mudcats threatened to rally in the inning as they found themselves with the bases loaded and just one out, but Jessup was able to make a quick recovery and put Chillicothe down with no further damage, maintaining the lead at 4-3.
"If we can keep the damage to just one guy and everyone else will be contained, that's all right," Mannsfield said.
Jessup gave up the mound in the sixth inning to Bryant Rutledge and the Mudcats threatened once again as they were able to take advantage of a key error and a stolen base to get a runner on third with nobody out.
Rutledge eventually went on to load the bases with two out, but was able to pitch his way out of the jam with no damage, keeping the Griffons on top by a score of 4-3.
The Griffons added what turned out to be an unimportant insurance run in the bottom of the seventh as John Wagle made his only hit of the game count with an RBI double to left center that drove in Matt Pitts. Wagle was nearly unable to make it to second base as he tripped over the bag at first and took a face-first fall on the base path before getting up and hustling his way to second safely.
Griffons closer Nick Phillips took over the mound for the bottom of the ninth inning and had his struggles, walking two of the first three batters he faced, but was ultimately able to shut the Mudcats down, earning the Griffons a 5-3 victory and recording his third save of the year.
Phillips went on to earn his first victory of the year as the Griffons completed the weekend sweep Sunday afternoon in dramatic fashion.
The Mudcats once again jumped on a struggling Nevada defense early in the game and quickly found themselves with a 5-1 lead in the second inning. The Griffons came back with a run in each of the first three innings to cut the Mudcats' lead to two runs, but continued to trail most of the game.
The Mudcats were eventually able to open up their lead back to four runs at 8-4 in the ninth inning and seemingly had the game under control as the Griffons found themselves down to their last three outs and trailing by four runs.
The Griffons had other ideas as they were able to rally in the home half of the frame after Mudcats reliever Freddy Soto hit two of the first four batters he faced. Peter Barrows was called on to pinch hit for Matt McLaughlin with the bases loaded and just one out and showed that this year's Griffons team can't be counted out until the final out is recorded.
Barrows more than did his job as a pinch hitter as he hit his third home run of the year and the first grand slam the Griffons have seen thus far to tie the score at 8-8 and send the game into extra innings.
Phillips came on to pitch the top of the 10th inning and shut the Mudcats down quickly, leaving the door open for the Griffons to steal another victory.
Jason Houston led off the inning with his sixth extra-base hit of the year -- a double down the left field line -- to put the winning run in scoring position. Two straight fly ball outs allowed Houston to complete his trip around the bases and the Griffons took a 9-8 victory.
With those games, the Griffons improve to 6-4 on the year, 6-3 in MINK League play and were set to head out on the road this week, starting with a non-league contest against the Neosho Dirtbags Monday night before heading to Clarinda, Iowa, to take on the A's in MINK League action tonight at 7 p.m.