Nevada baseball wins two more on the road

After a rough start to the season in the Bill O'Dell Tournament, at Carthage, The Nevada Tigers baseball team has found itself on a tear that has resulted in an eight-game winning streak and a significant increase in confidence for head coach Danny Penn and his squad.

The most recent victims of the newfound dominance the Tigers have shown on the field were the Indians of Seneca High School and the Purple Dragons of Pittsburg (Kan.) High School. The Tigers defeated Seneca, 6-0, Friday, before taking down the Purple Dragons, 12-1, Saturday.

In the Seneca game, Cole Sanderson pitched a gem, allowing just two hits with seven strikeouts in six scoreless innings to pick up the victory. On top of the fact that Sanderson had little trouble having his way with the Seneca lineup, he finished the day with the Tigers' most efficient pitching performance of the season, throwing just 61 pitches.

"Cole pitched very well (and) recognized that they struggled to catch up with his fastball," Penn said. (He) mixed in curveballs every once in a while to keep them guessing. We're hoping the limited pitch count will allow him to be able to come back and throw early next week."

Andy Heathman had one hit batter and three strikeouts in one inning of relief.

"Coach Talley and I have been impressed with Andy's ability to come in and pound the zone with strikes," Penn said. "His motion and arm angle are intimidating to a right-handed batter, so we're going to look for opportunities to stretch him out over the course of the season."

The Tigers' offense struggled through the early portions of the contest, but found its spark in the fourth inning, when Easton Mitchell executed a flawless squeeze play with the bases loaded to bring in a run. Sanderson followed that with a two-run single to spark the Tigers' rally.

"I think that once we scored that first run, our hitters kind of took a breath and relaxed," Penn said.

Sanderson not only dominated the contest on the mound, but also led the Tigers offensively, with two hits, two RBIs and a run scored. Alex Payne also had two RBIs on one hit and scored a run.

Against Pittsburg, the Tigers once again struggled in the early innings before breaking loose to score four runs in the sixth inning and five more in the seventh to take a 12-1 victory.

Payne led Nevada with four hits, including a double and three RBIs in five at-bats. Lane Ketterman was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBIs, while Mitchell and Sanderson were each 1-for-2 and combined for three RBIs -- two from Sanderson and one from Mitchell.

"The (Nos.) 2, 3 and 4 hitters in our lineup had nice days today," Penn said. "While I was frustrated with our hitting in the early innings, I was pleased with the approaches we took in the latter innings."

Winning pitcher Trey Manes and Brett Norton also had hits for the Tigers. Manes allowed three hits and one run with no walks and two strikeouts over six innings.

"Taylor Manes threw the ball very well in his first extended outing of the season," Penn said. "He was mixing in his curveball well and getting ahead of most batters."

Derek O'Dell finished the game on the mound, striking out two in a hitless seventh inning.

With those wins, the Tigers improved to 8-2 on the year and were scheduled to be back in action on Monday, hosting Willard, but that game was called off. Next on the schedule for Penn's squad is Tuesday, when the Tigers host the Cardinals of Clinton High School.

First pitch in that contest is set for 4:30 p.m., at Lyons Stadium, weather and field conditions permitting.