DRAGONS EARN KEY SWEEP OF PRATT
Hutchinson CC Sports Information
Mike Brown tossed his fourth-straight complete game in Game 1 and Julian Rip launched a grand slam in Game 2 as the Hutchinson Community College baseball team earned a pivotal Jayhawk West sweep of the Pratt Beavers on Thursday at Hobart-Detter Field.
The Blue Dragons defeated Pratt 7-1 and 12-2 in seven innings in the first two games of a four-game Jayhawk West series.
Hutchinson won its sixth and seven game in a row and is now a season-high 12 games over .500 at 29-17. More importantly, the Dragons are 15-11 in the Jayhawk West. With Cloud County's split with Barton and Colby's sweep of Dodge City. The Blue Dragons, Thunderbirds and Trojans are in a three-way tie for third place in the Jayhawk West with six league games remaining.
The final two games of the series are scheduled for Saturday at Stanion Field in Pratt. Because of potential wet weather on Saturday, a decision on if the doubleheader will be moved will be made on Friday.
GAME 1 RECAP
The Beavers had Brown on the ropes in the first inning as two singles, a throwing error and a walk loaded the bases to start the game. Brown limited the potential damage to one run with a Sean Johnson fielder's choice and a pair of strikeouts to end the inning.
From that point, Brown allowed just two baserunners, a fifth-inning walk and sixth-inning single. Brown retired 13 Pratt batters in a row and 21 of the final 23 batters he faced.
Brown struck out a career-high 10 in a complete-game three hitter. Now 5-1, Brown has won four-straight decisions and over his last three starts, Brown has allowed only one run and eight hits.
The Blue Dragons immediately tied the game in the bottom of the first inning when Wyatt Divis singled home Brock Schaffer.
Then tied at 1 in the bottom of the fourth, the Blue Dragons loaded the bases with no outs. Schaffer laced a two-run opposite-field double to left to score Riley Metzger and Dylan Nedved. Logan Sartori's sacrifice fly scored Rip and Schaffer scored on a throwing error for a four-run inning for a 5-1 lead.
Schaffer extended his hitting streak to a team-high 12 games with a 2-for-3 performance with a single, double, two runs and two RBIs. Divis went 2 for 4 with a double and two RBIs. Nedved was 2 for 3 with a double and run scored.
The Blue Dragons out-hit Pratt 8-3 in the first game.
GAME 2 RECAP
The Blue Dragons went 9 for 14 with two outs and earned a run-rule victory in the second game.
That trend started in the first inning. After the first two Blue Dragons were retired in the first, Divis hit a solo home run. From that point, seven-straight Blue Dragons reached base. With the bases loaded, Rip hit his sixth home run of the year and the team's fourth grand slam of 2018 to build a 5-0 lead after one inning.
Schaffer's two-run double in the third was the big hit in a five-run Blue Dragon third. After moving up to third on a wild pitch, Schaffer scored on a Sartori sacrifice fly to a 10-0 lead.
Leading 10-2 in the seventh, the Blue Dragons invoked the run rule with a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch to Divis and a bases-loaded walk to Bobby Morgensen.
Schaffer, who extended his hitting streak to 13 games, Divis, Morgensen and Crit Williams all had two-hit games. Rip had a career-high four RBIs, while Schaffer, Divis and Morgensen had two RBIs each.
Nedved improved to 3-0 with five innings of work as a starter. Nedved allowed six hits and one earned run with three strikeouts and one walk. Matt Hopkins allowed one run over the two final two innings.