Baseball Searching For First Win

February 23, 2007

WEATHERFORD – SouthwesternOklahoma State University’s search for its first baseball win of the 2007 season was extended a bit further as the Bulldogs were swept by visting Texas A&M-Kingsville in a four-game weekend series in Weatherford.

SWOSU lost the first game 2-1 and fell by scores of 10-8, 14-9 and 14-7 in the final three. The losses left the Bulldogs record at 0-9 while TAMUK improved to 8-5 after the victories.

In the first game SWOSU got a solid pitching effort by senior Jeff Keller but were unable to generate enough at the plate. Keller scattered five hits in going the distance for a seven-inning, complete game. He allowed only a single run in the fifth and another unearned run in the sixth. SWOSU tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the fifth when Blain Perkins hit a one-out triple that got past a diving effort by the Javelina centerfielder. Mark Cole then hit a slow roller to the right side of the infield that allowed Perkins to hustle home for the score. TAMUK took the lead in the sixth thanks to a  SWOSU fielding miscue and an RBI double by Javier Molina. TAMUK's Raul Trevino was awarded the win and improved to 3-0. He allowed only two hits in seven innings. He struck out six and walked only two batters. He retired 13 straight batters before the triple by Perkins.

< The second game was forced to resume Saturday morning after the game went into extra innings tied at 7-7.

SWOSU nearly lost the game in regulation when Lance Scales struck out for the third out in the bottom of the seventh. However, Scales reached first when the catcher misplayed the ball allowing the Bulldogs new life. Kenny Hare then drew a walk and Ryan Starzenski knocked in both Scales and Hare with a two-RBI single to tie the game at 7-7.

Both teams played a scoreless eighth before Kingsville came up with three runs in the ninth off Bulldog reliever Ty Pool to win the game.

In game three, SWOSU was behind 7-1 after three innings of play but slowly chipped away thanks to Dakota Streber’s hot bat. Streber finished four-for-four with four RBI’s in the game. His two-RBI triple highlighted a four-run sixth inning that brought the Bulldogs back to within one run at 10-9.

Kingsville answered with four runs in the top of the seventh to put the game out of reach.

In the final game, the Javelinas again got out of the gate fast taking an 11-3 lead after five innings and hung on for a 14-7 win.

The Bulldogs will next play Friday and Saturday in a four-game series against Eastern New Mexico University  on the road.