ST. LOUIS, Mo. – This afternoon the Harris-Stowe State University baseball team was back in action when they played host to the Hannibal-LaGrange (Mo.) University Trojans in an AMC doubleheader. The Hornets swept the doubleheader as they won the first game by a final score of 21-6 and the second game by a final score of 10-3 to improve to 7-13 on the season and 3-7 in the American Midwest Conference. With the sweep, the Trojans fall to 9-11 on the year and 2-8 in the AMC.
Harris-Stowe put together 18 hits in the first game of the doubleheader. They got on the board first in this one as they scored three runs in the bottom of the first to jump out to an early 3-0 lead. The Trojans battled back and were able to score three runs in the top of the third and two runs in the top of the fourth to take a 5-3 lead in the game. Harris-Stowe bounced back in the bottom half of the fourth and were able to rally for nine runs in the inning to take a 12-5 lead. They continued to put the ball in play and were able to score two more runs in the bottom of the fifth to extend their lead to 14-5. The Trojans scored a run in the top of the sixth, but seven runs from the Hornets in the bottom half of the inning solidified the win.
Dajuan Griffin was the starting pitcher in this one as he allowed seven hits and three earned runs while striking out one in 2.1 innings of work.
Tommy Benner (2-0) and
Cam Fuller came in to relieve Griffin as the two combined to allow eight hits and three earned runs while striking out five in the final 4.2 innings of the contest.
Will Crooker led the way at the plate as he went 3-for-4 with a grand slam and eight RBI.
Luke Lampros also hit a grand slam in the game and scored three runs. In addition,
Matt Janocik went 2-for-4 with two RBI,
Davie Pound went 1-for-3 with two RBI, and
Alek Sierra went 3-for-4 with an RBI to round out the top performers for the Hornets.
The Hornets kept the bats rolling in the second game as they put together 13 hits in the contest. They got on the board first in this one as they rallied for four runs in the bottom of the second to jump out to an early lead. The Trojans battled back and scored a run in the top of the third, but six runs from the Hornets over the next two innings put them up 10-1 in the game. The Trojans were able to score two runs in the top of the eighth to cut the lead to 10-3, but the Hornets picked up the final outs of the game to solidify the win.
Armando Sierra (2-2) was the starting pitcher in this one as he allowed four hits and one earned run while striking out 11 in 7.0 innings on the mound.
Nathan George and
Brian Myers came in to relieve Sierra as the two combined to allow two hits and one earned run while striking out two in the final 2.0 innings of the contest.
Maurice La Fon led the way at the plate for the Hornets as he went 2-for-3 with four RBI and a three run homerun. In addition to La Fon,
Bay To went 2-for-2 with three RBI and
Davie Pound went 2-for-3 with an RBI to round out the top performers for the Hornets.
The Hornets will return to the field tomorrow, April 3
rd when they host Hannibal-LaGrange for the final two games of the four game series. The first game of the doubleheader is set to start at noon with the second to follow. Only guests on the will call list will be able to attend.
