DRAGONS TAKE ON PIRATES IN 2018 HOME OPENER SUNDAY

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

The Hutchinson Community College baseball team has had mixed reviews in its first six games of the regular season.

The offense has been potent, but the pitching staff has struggled as Hutchinson is off to a 3-3 start to 2018.

The Blue Dragons will play host to the Independence Pirates at 2 p.m. on Sunday at Hobart-Detter Field in the 2018 home opener. The game will be streamed live on the Blue Dragon Sports Network at 1:45 p.m. with Steve Carpenter calling the action.

The Blue Dragons took 2 of 3 from Coffeyville on opening weekend, losing an extra-inning game in the middle game of that series. Hutch then lost 2 of 3 at Northeast Texas on Thursday and Friday. The only victory of the series was a rally from five runs down to force extra inning and win in 9-7 in 10 innings.

Offensively, the Blue Dragons are hitting .323 as a team, averaging just more than eight runs per game. The Dragons have six batters hitting better than .300 in the early going.

The Dragon pitching staff has a collective 4.76 earned-run average. Opponents are hitting .263 against the Dragon staff.

The defense isn't helping the pitching staff with 16 errors in the first six games.

Hutchinson plays Independence for the first time ever in the regular season. This will be only the second meeting ever between the Blue Dragons and Pirates. Hutch and Indy locked up in a memorable three-game Region VI opening-round series in 2016. The Dragons won that series 2-1.

The Pirates are 3-5. They snapped a four-game losing streak on Tuesday with a 5-4, 10-inning victory over NOC-Enid.

Independence is hitting .293 as a team and has seven home runs.

This game was originally scheduled for Tuesday at Hobart-Detter Field, but was moved to Sunday because of weather concerns.