AQ’s Late-Inning Bursts Too Much For Marygrove Baseball

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WYOMING, Mich. — A pair of offensive outbursts in the latter innings of Friday’s (April 17) WHAC doubleheader by Aquinas was all the hosts needed as Marygrove baseball dropped two games to the Saints in Wyoming, Mich. The Saints (14-21, 9-14 WHAC) spoiled a nice pitching performance by Daniel Bailey in game one to win 7-0 and later took game two 14-3 after the Mustangs cut it to a one-run game, 4-3, in inning five of the seven-frame second game of the day.

GAME ONE – Aquinas 7, @MGroveBASEBALL 0
Freshman Daniel Bailey (Harrison Twp., Mich./L’Anse Creuse High School) got off to the best start of his career Friday, working out of trouble at times to keep the high-octane Saints scoreless through four innings. The Mustang (2-35, 1-25 WHAC) offense couldn’t get much going for Bailey early on as freshmen Drew Johnson (Trenton, Mich./Trenton High School) and Jon Weatherspoon (Ann Arbor, Mich./Huron High School) were the only two to collect a hit through the first four innings of action.

Johnson also walked a stole a base, but Bailey was the story early as he shut down the Saints until the hosts broke through for a three-run fifth inning. After working a clean sixth inning, Bailey was relieved by Trey Blandford (Louisville, Ky./Fern Creek High School) in the seventh due to a high pitch count. Blandford, one of the conference’s leaders in appearances, worked a 1-2-3 inning for head coach Ryan Kottke and the Mustangs by sitting down a pair of Saints on swinging strikeouts and a groundout to second base.

The Mustangs made an attempt to get back into the game by posting seven hits total in game one, but were undone by a late Aquinas push in the eighth inning as the hosts went on to win the opener, 7-0.

Weatherspoon paced the Mustangs with a pair of hits while five other members of the Green and Gold squad scattered a hit each in the nine-inning affair.

GAME TWO – Aquinas 14, @MGroveBASEBALL 3
The Mustangs trailed by three after two innings behind starter [Jon] Weatherspoon who was stingy otherwise through four frames. After going 12-straight innings without a run against the Saints, the Mustangs offense brought a run to the plate in the top of the fourth when Chris Gittleman (Windsor, Ontario/Trinity Christian College) singled to third base to advance Raleigh Wilson (Harrison Twp., Mich./West Texas College) to second and score David Chung (Warren, Mich./Bishop Foley High School).

The RBI was Gittleman’s sixth of the season, getting the Mustangs to within two when he scored Chung – the Mustangs offensive leader through 37 games with a .302 batting average, 29 hits and nine RBIs.

The Saints tacked on another run in the home half of the fourth to take a 4-1 lead over the Mustangs before the Green and Gold offense came to life in the fifth. After having their first two batters retired, the Mustangs posted two runs in the fifth inning when D.J. Wade (Southfield, Mich./University High School) got the rally started after being hit by a pitch.

Tyler Sykes (Sterling Heights, Mich./Stevenson High School) came on to courtesy run for Wade and later scored when Drew Johnson tripled over the head of the Saints’ center fielder to make it a two-run game, 4-2. Weatherspoon singled up the middle one batter later to send Johnson home, cutting the Saints lead to one run, 4-3. The rally would end there as the Mustangs missed out on a chance to take the lead as the go-ahead run eventually made it to first base.

The missed opportunity would be costly as the Saints erupted for seven runs in the fifth inning and three more in the sixth to run away with the game from there, 14-3.

Johnson ended game two a home run away from the cycle to go along with a run scored and an RBI. The freshman from Trenton has tracked the ball well lately for Kottke and the Mustangs, reaching base safely in nine of the last 11 games. The fifth-inning triple was the first of the speedy outfielder’s career at the collegiate level.

Wilson went two-for-two with a walk to help lead the Mustangs offensive efforts in game two.

The Saints’ David Foster earned the win in the nightcap after going five innings against the Green and Gold.

UP NEXT
The same two teams will meet Saturday (April 18) for the final two contests of the four-game weekend series. Jeremy Otto will once again be on the call with coverage beginning at 12:50 p.m. on marygrovemustangs.com/live.

BASEBALL CONTACT: Tim Johnston | [email protected]/* */ | @tjohnston56
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