OJEDA PITCHES DRAGONS TO SPLIT WITH DODGE CITY

Hutchinson CC Sports Information

Freshman pitcher Sam Ojeda pitched seven strong innings to earn his first career victory and help the Hutchinson Community College baseball team to a Jayhawk West-opening split with the Dodge City Conquistadors at Hobart-Detter Field.

Ojeda's performance powered the Blue Dragons to a 10-1 victory over the Conquistadors in Game 2 on Thursday. Dodge City pounded out 17 hits in a 13-7 victory over Hutchinson in Game 1.

The Blue Dragons are now 10-9 overall and 1-1 in the Jayhawk West. Dodge City is 7-13 and 1-1. The series resumes at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Cavalier Field in Dodge City

GAME 2 RECAP
Ojeda pitched a season-high seven inning and allowed just two baserunners through the first five innings.

After retiring the first six batters he faces, Ojeda allowed a leadoff double and a two-out RBI single in the third that tied the game at 1-1. After that, he Blue Dragon freshman retired seven-straight before Dodge City loaded the bases with two out in the sixth. Ojeda got out of that jam with a groundout by Donnie Rhyne.

The first two Conquistador batters reached in the seventh on an error and hit batsman. Ojeda dug down to get a strikeout and the last of his 78 pitches thrown was an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.

Ojeda allowed three hits, one earned run and one walk, while striking out a career high eight. Ojeda did hit two batters.

Brady Beverman pitched a spotless eighth and Rece Wilson closed out the game with a scoreless ninth.

Every Blue Dragon position player had at least one hit as Hutchinson amassed a total of 10 hits in the game. 

Cody Gunderson went 2 for 4 with a pair of RBIs. He singled in the first to give the Dragons a 1-0 lead. Gunderson had the final RBI of the game, a run-scoring groundout in the eighth to give the Dragons a 10-1 lead.

Tied at 1-1 after three innings, Ryan Henderson and Jon Davis had RBI singles and Christian Powell had an RBI fielder's choice in the fourth for a 4-1 lead. The Dragons added three more runs in the fifth when Will Edmunson scored on an errant throw from the outfield after a Collin Cymbalista RBI single scored Gunderson. Jack Gardner singled home Cymbalista to take it 7-1 Blue Dragons.

GAME 1 RECAP
Six different Dodge City players had multi-hit games against five Blue Dragon pitchers as the Conquistadors rolled to a 13-7 series-opening victory.

Dodge City scored five runs in the first inning and added single runs in the next two innings to lead the Conquistadors to a 7-0 after 2 1/2 innings.

The Blue Dragons tried to come back with two runs in the third – Blake Bradford and Edmunson both scoring on wild pitches – and on in the fourth on Powell RBI single to pull within 7-3.

Down 8-3, Hutchinson pulled within one run with a four-run fifth inning. Consecutive RBI singles from Henderson, Davis and Powell got the Dragons within 8-7.

Dodge City finished off Game 1 with a single run in the sixth and four more in the seventh.

Powell was 2 for 3 with two RBIs. Davis went 2 for 4 and Henderson went 2 for 4, each driving in a run. Edmunson was 2 for 2 and was hit twice with pitches to reach on all four plate appearances. He scored two runs.

The Dragons had just seven hits in in the game and left nine runners on base.

Justin Smith was tagged with the loss, going just 2-3 inning. Ben Dandelet worked 4 1-3 innings; Kaden Wickersham worked 2-3 of an inning. Jacob Hadden went one inning and Derrick Johnson threw 1-3 inning.