McKAY STELLAR ON MOUND AS DRAGONS EARN SPLIT WITH RAIDERS

The Blue Dragon baseball team split a pair on Thursday at Rose State, falling 13-7 in the first game before defeating the Raiders 5-2 in Game 1. (Sammi Carpenter/Blue Dragon Sports Information)

February 23, 2023

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

MIDWEST CITY, Oklahoma – Freshman pitcher Gus McKay threw seven shutout innings and helped the Hutchinson Community College baseball team earn a split of a Thursday doubleheader at Rose State College.

McKay's stellar outing powered the Blue Dragons to a 5-2 victory over the Raiders in Game 2 on Thursday. Rose State hammered out 14 hits to win the series opener 13-7 earlier on Thursday.

Now 7-4 and with the three-game series tied at 1-1, the Blue Dragons and Raiders will play at 1 p.m. Saturday in the rubber game of the series. The game was supposed to be Friday, but cold temperatures caused the postponement.

GAME 2 RECAP
Making his third start of the season, McKay (2-0) took a no-hitter through 5 2-3 innings on Thursday.

McKay allowed just one baserunner though the first five innings, a second-inning error. He retired 13 straight batters before Zac Carroll rolled a single up the middle for a hit with two outs in the sixth inning.

McKay allowed a one-out walk and a two-out single in the seventh, but he ended the day with a strikeout of Silas Voegely to end the inning.

McKay allowed just two hits over seven innings with four strikeouts and only one walk. McKay threw 95 pitches in the outing.

McKay pitched with a 1-0 lead for most of the game. That run was scored by Cooper Wesslund on a wild pitch in the second inning.

The Dragons make it 3-0 in the top of the seventh when Will Edmusson doubled home Blake Bradford. Edmunson later scored on a double-play ball. The Dragons added two more in the eighth to make it 5-0. Christian Powell's RBI double drove home Wesslund. Powell scored on the third Rose State error of the game.

Reed Scott gave up two unearned runs in the eighth as Rose State broke up the shutout. Reed struck out three in two innings. He allowed two hits, a walk, hit a batter and two unearned runs.

The Blue Dragons out-hit Rose State 11-4 in the second game.

Wesslund has a season-high three hits, going 3 for 4 with two runs scored. Edmunson ran his hitting streak to 12 games after going 2 for 5 with two doubles. Bradford was 2 for 4.

GAME 1 RECAP
The Blue Dragons scored single runs in each of their seven offensive at-bats, but it wasn't enough as Rose State hammered out 14 hits as Daxton Carter had two home runs and four RBIs in a 13-7 win over the Blue Dragons in the series opener.

Braedyn Sommer returned to the lineup after an injury absence and went 3 for 3 with two doubles and two runs scored to lead the Dragons' seven-hit attack.

Edmunson was 2 for 2 and reached base in all four plate appearances with three runs scored and two stolen bases. Powell and Jon Davis had the other Dragon hits. Adam Mustow had two RBIs.

Starting pitcher Ben Dandelet (1-2) and relievers Michael Uhler and Sam Ojeda were touched up for 13 runs and 14 hits.

Rose State broke the game open in the second with a six-run inning to build a 7-2 lead.