DRAGONS SWEEP NE TEXAS, GO 4-0 ON ROAD TRIP
Hutchinson CC Sports Information
FORT WORTH, Texas – The Hutchinson Community College baseball team extended its winning streak to six games in a row and completed a 4-0 weekend swing through the state of Texas on Saturday.
Sophomore Zach Firmature struck out a career-high 10 batters in six strong innings to lead the Blue Dragons to a 6-1 victory over Northeast Texas in Game 1 of a doubleheader at Fort Worth Christian High School.
Freshmen Jenner Steele and Luke Sartori completed big weekend with a combined five hits and seven RBIs as Hutchinson held on for a 9-8 win over the Eagles.
The Blue Dragons improve to 9-2 overall. Hutchinson plays at Coffeyville on Thursday and then plays its 2020 home opener at 1 p.m. on Saturday with a doubleheader against the Red Ravens at Hobart-Detter Field.
GAME 1 RECAP
Firmature's start had an ominous tone to it. A single and fielding error had the first two Northeast Texas runners on base. Things immediately turned around as Firmature induced a 6-4-3 double play and then collected his first strikeout to end the inning unscathed.
Firmature had to work around five Blue Dragon errors in the game. Only one of those errors hurt the Blue Dragon sophomore with an unearned run in the fourth inning. Firmature finished strong, retiring the final seven Eagle batters he faced.
Firmature (1-1) earned his first win of the season going six innings with a career-high 10 strikeouts. He gave up just two hits and walked none. Cade Fenton struck out two and walked one in the seventh to close the game out.
The game was scoreless through three innings. Hutchinson erupted for four runs in the fourth. Austin Callahan scored on a passed ball to open the scoring. Chris Noble then punched a two-run double to right to score Tyler Delong and Will Reetz. The Dragons made it 4-0 on Mason Lowe's RBI single to score Noble.
Noble drove in his third run of the game with an RBI single in the sixth to make it 5-1. Lowe scored on the back end of a double steal attempt in the top of the sixth to five the Dragons a 6-1 lead.
The Blue Dragons out-hit the Eagles 9-2 in Game 1.
Noble had the only multi-hit game, going 2 for 3 with a career-high three RBIs. Callahan had a double for Hutch's only other extra-base hit.
GAME 2 RECAP
The Blue Dragons build an 8-3 lead after three innings and led 9-3 after six innings. Things got a little dicey after that.
The Eagles plated four in the seventh to pull within 9-7. Then in the ninth, Northeast's Nico Baumbach hit a solo home run off Delong to pull the Eagles within 9-8. Brian Juarez then doubled to put the tying run at second with one out. Delong finished off the Eagles with a strikeout and a line-out to right field to complete the sweep.
Ethan Peterson started on the mound for Hutchinson and worked the first four innings. He allowed five hits and three runs with four strikeouts and one walk. Cody Farmer worked 2 1-3 innings with two hits and four earned runs. He struck out four and walked two. Delong worked the final 2 2-3 innings. He struck out five and allowed three hits and one earned run. Delong was credited with the pitching victory.
Sartori went 4 for 5 with two doubles to lead an 11-hit output by the Blue Dragons. He scored three runs and had three RBIs. Sartori had a three-run double in the third to give the Dragons an 8-3 lead. Sartori was 7 for 12 with five RBIs, three doubles and a homer in the four games in Texas.
Steele went 2 for 4 with four RBIs in Game 2. Steele had a two-run single in the first inning. His RBI single in the second scored Callahan with the go-ahead run and a 4-3 lead. Steele the grounded out to short in the fifth to score Sartori in what was a very important ninth run of the game. Hutch led 9-3 at that point. Steele went 8 for 15 with seven RBIs and a home run over the weekend.