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Burk leads Griffons past Generals
With a MINK League playoff bid hanging in the balance Jack Burk's dominant pitching performance lifted the Nevada Griffons to an 8-3 victory over the Ozark Generals.
The Friday night contest at Lyons Stadium moved the Griffons (20-19 MINK League, 22-19 Overall) to within a half-game of the second place Generals (20-18) in the MINK League South Division with just three games remaining in the regular season. The top two teams from the North and South divisions earn playoff berths.
Meanwhile, the first place Joplin Outlaws (22-16) remain 2 1/2 games up on the Griffons, after defeating the last place Branson Nationals 10-7 Friday night.
The Nationals, who entered the game 2-37 in MINK League-play, led 7-3 heading into the top of the eighth, before its design on a MINK League upset for the ages was dashed by Joplin's seven-run eighth inning.
Griffons 8, Generals 3
Burk, a 6-foot-3, 210 pound right-handed pitcher out of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, was perfect through the first 3 and 2/3 innings, en route to firing six scoreless frames.
A Trevor Peterson RBI single in the bottom of the first off Ozark starting pitcher Curtis Hynes scored Kainulu Pitoy from second as the Griffons grabbed a 1-0 lead.
Nevada opened the bottom of the third with three consecutive singles off the bats of Ethaniel Valdez, Pitoy, and Tyler Pagano. With the bases loaded, a Peterson hard-hit grounder past the outreached Garrett Schilling at third base, scored Valdez. Still with not outs and the bases loaded, a Cole Johnson sacrifice fly out to right field plated Pitoy while advancing Pagano to third, giving the Griffons a 3-0 cushion.
A Valdez sacrifice fly to right-center field in the fourth scored Adam Eskil, as Nevada's advantage grew to four runs. With Burk on cruise control, Nevada maintained its four-run lead heading into the top of the seventh, when Cole Butler replaced Burk on the mound.
Butler, who made a relief appearance Thursday night against Chillicothe, yielded a two-run home run, as Joba Ferrell's round-tripper trimmed the Griffons lead to 4-2. After a one out Nick Gotta double, Butler was replaced by Aaron Barteau.
Later in the inning, after issuing a two-out walk to Schilling to load the bases, a Barteau strikeout of Dylan Skinner snuffed out the Ozark threat.
Ozark inched closer in the eighth, when a Ferrell line drive to right field scored A.J. Bruner, as the Generals trailed 4-3.
Ozark, however, crumbled in the bottom of the eighth. MINK League All-Star selection Tanner Allen, who entered the game in the eighth, allowed four earned runs in 1/3 of an inning. Allen, who seemed unable to throw a strike, walked five of the six batters he faced before being yanked in favor of Jon Grotelueschen.
Grotelueschen, was just as erratic, walking a pair of Griffons while also being charged with a wild pitch that scored Eskil. After the dust had settled, Nevada had scored four runs without recording a single hit.
For Nevada, Burk (2-1) struck out five (three looking) while allowing five hits and walking a batter over six innings of work. In 2 and 2/3 innings of work, Barteau fanned three while not allowing a run. In addition, Barteau recorded his first save of the season. At the plate, Peterson was 3-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored, raising his batting average to .394.
Up next
The Griffons hit the road to face Branson, today, with the first pitch set for 5 p.m.