The Tartan Pride swept their conference rival Owens CC behind solid pitching, but snapped their 14-game winning streak as Vincennes University handed them their first loss since March 14 against Kellogg CC.
The first of four games against Owens resulted in a 6-3 victory for the Pride with Mitch Asman on the mound, giving up eight hits, three runs and three strikeouts in a seven-inning complete game. The Pride came back from being a run down in the fifth inning and never looked back when Alec Turner came through with an RBI single that scored the speedy Alex Young
The second game was all about Alex Anders as he pitched seven shutout innings, giving up only two hits, one walk and eight strikeouts. However, it was a tight game because the Pride could only muster up two hits of their own, but they made their two hits count as Alex Young had an RBI single in the fifth and had a run of his own. Alex Young also had two stolen bases in the game, and has 26 stolen bases in the 23 games he has played so far. Young also has seven games where he has stolen two or more bases. The most bases he has stolen so far in a game is five which came against Grand Rapids. As a result of him being able to steal bases, he leads the team in runs scored with 30.
Game three of the series turned out to be a bit dramatic as the Pride were down three to nothing going into the bottom of the fifth of a seven-inning game. Jimmy White hit a homerun in the seventh and helped the Pride squeeze by with a 4-3 victory
The fourth and final game of the series was anything but close as the Pride exploded for seven runs in the third inning and never looked back. Jimmy White picked up where he left off in game three and knocked in four RBIs on two hits. Pitcher Daniel Sexton threw more than two innings of hitless baseball and struck out four and earned the win. Brody Basilone finished the job, even with allowing four runs in just under four innings. He had a big enough cushion with the Pride winning 15-4.
Unfortunately, their magical run would come to an end in Indiana where they had their first game since the beginning of March against Vincennes University. The offense was there with Ty Amann hitting in four of the 12 runs Sinclair put up, but it wasn’t enough. Between Mason Aelker and Ben Myers, they allowed 12 of the 16 runs Vincennes put up and exploded for nine of the runs in the fourth inning. The Pride could not play catch-up, losing 16-12.
The pitching in the second game of the two-game series showed up as Nathaniel Rhodes delivered five innings of baseball while allowing five runs. Fortunately, the Pride’s offense kept rolling, tallying up 15 runs of their own, led by Brody Basoline and Eric Hansman who each had three RBIs. Alex Young also stole another three bases and help put himself in scoring position and scored two runs on one hit with two walks.
Though the sample size is very small, it appears that Sinclair is a much better home team than away. They have not played too many road games though, and with April holding 11 road games, it will be interesting to see if they can bring the same kind of domination on the road as they have in the home games. It is too early to tell though, with only having played six games on the road compared to the 20 home games. Either way, the Tartan Pride stand at 22-4 and they don’t appear to be slowing down in the least bit.
Matt Summers
Reporter