ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Harris-Stowe State University baseball fell 13-11 in game one, 14-13 in game two and 16-14 in game three to Crowley's Ridge on Friday and Saturday at Stars Park. With the three losses, the Hornets fall to 0-10 in the season and 0-6 in American Midwest Conference play while the Pioneers improve to 12-13-1 on the season and 3-2-1 in AMC play.
Game 1:
The Pioneers would take a 1-0 lead in the top of the first with a home run. Junior left fielder Alexander Fernandez (Caracas, Venezuela) singled to start the bottom of the first. Fernandez would move to second on a ground out and steal third. Outfielder Hayden Waters singled to left to score Fernandez to tie the game at one. Senior right fielder Tashaun Coleman (Indianapolis, Ind.) tripled to right center to give the Hornets a 2-1 lead after one inning.
The Pioneers would score four runs in the second and third to take a 9-2 lead. Junior first baseman Brayden Hatley (St. Louis, Mo.) homered to center to cut the deficit to 9-3. Waters tripled to right field. A sacrifice fly from Coleman scored Waters to cut the deficit to 9-4.
Senior second baseman Michael Khatkar (Vancouver, Canada) singled to center with one out in the bottom of the fourth. Khatkar would steal second before scoring on a double by Fernandez to cut the deficit to 9-5 after four innings. A one out triple from Waters in the bottom of the fifth would give the Hornets a chance to cut into the Pioneers lead. A double from Coleman would score Waters to cut the deficit to 9-6. The Pioneers would score one in the sixth to extend their lead to 10-6.
A single from Khatkar started the Hornets rally in the bottom of the sixth. Sophomore center fielder Adrian Martinez (Davie, Fla.) would reach on a bunt single. Fernandez doubled home Khatkar and Martinez to cut the deficit to 10-8. Hatley homered to tie the game at 10. The Pioneers would score three in the top of the seventh to take a 13-10 lead. Khatkar singled to start the bottom of the seventh and advanced to second on a passed ball. Junior shortstop Felix Daclan (Modesto, Calif.) singled to left field to score Khatkar to cut the Pioneers lead to 13-11 as the Pioneers held on to take game one.
Waters and Khatkar had three hits apiece while Fernandez, Hatley, Coleman and Martinez had two hits. Hatley and Coleman recorded three runs batted in. Fernandez, Daclan and Khatkar all recorded a stolen base.
Game 2:
The Pioneers would score three runs in the top of the first. In the bottom of the second, Waters started the inning with a walk. Coleman reached on an error. Freshman catcher Jacob Frankera singled to left to load the bases. A two-out single from Martinez scored Waters and Coleman to cut the deficit to 3-2.
Daclan singled to start the rally in the third. Daclan proceeded to steal second and third. Hatley walked to give the Hornets runners on the corners. Waters walked and Daclan would score on a wild pitch to tie the game at three. Coleman doubled to center to score Hatley to give the Hornets a 4-3 lead. Junior third baseman Andrew Kobe (St. Louis, Mo.) doubled to left to score Waters and Coleman to extend the Hornets lead to 6-3. Frankera doubled home Kobe. A sacrifice fly from Martinez scored Frankera. Fernandez singled to right field then stole second. Daclan reached third on an error as Fernandez would score. Daclan would score on a wild pitch to make it 10-3. Hatley would single and make it to second and then steal third. Waters singled to left to score Hatley to make it 11-3 Hornets after three innings of play.
Daclan would triple to start the Hornets half of the fifth. Hatley would hit a sacrifice fly to score Daclan to extend the lead to 12-3. The Pioneers scored six in the seventh and two in the eighth to cut the Hornets lead to 12-11.
Waters singled to start the eighth. Kobe would walk with one out. Frankera would be hit by a pitch to load the bases. A sacrifice fly from Khatkar scored Waters to extend the lead to 13-11. The Pioneers scored three in the top of the ninth to take a 14-13 lead as they shut down the Hornets in the bottom of the ninth as game two was concluded on Saturday before the series finale.
Hatley and Waters had three hits while Daclan and Frankera had two hits. Martinez had three runs batted in. Daclan had two stolen bases while Fernandez, Hatley, Waters and Coleman all had one.
Game 3:
Fernandez was hit by a pitch to start the bottom of the first and then proceeded to steal second and third. Waters walked to give the Hornets runners on the corners with two outs. Waters would steal second and Fernandez would steal home on the throw to second. Coleman singled to center to score Waters to make it 2-0 Hornets after one.
The Pioneers scored three runs in the second. Fernandez walked to start the Hornets half of the third. Fernandez would steal second and third. Daclan walked and stole second. A sacrifice fly from Hatley tied the game at three. Daclan would score on a wild pitch to make it 4-3 Hornets.
A two-out walk to Khatkar and Fernandez had the Hornets in business. A single by Daclan loaded the bases. A walk to Hatley scored Khatkar to make it 5-3 Hornets. A double from Waters scored Fernandez and Daclan to extend the lead to 7-3 after four. The Pioneers scored one in the top of the fifth.
Senior first baseman Logan Schwerdt (Saint Peters, Mo.) started the Hornets rally in the fifth. A walk to junior catcher Ian Funk (Wildwood, Mo.) and a hit by pitch of Khatkar loaded the bases. A walk to Fernandez scored Schwerdt. Martinez, running for Funk, scored on a wild pitch as Khatkar and Fernandez moved up a base as well. Daclan singled to right to score Khatkar and Fernandez to extend the lead to 11-4. Daclan stole second and third. Hatley singled home Daclan. Waters singled to center to move Hatley to third. Coleman grounded out to shortstop to score Hatley to extend the lead to 13-4.
The Pioneers scored three in the sixth to cut the deficit to 13-7. Hatley homered to left in the bottom of the seventh to extend the lead to 14-7. The Pioneers scored five in the eighth and four in the ninth to take a 16-14 lead as they would hold on to win.
Daclan, Hatley, Waters and Schwerdt all had two hits. Hatley had four runs batted in. Fernandez had a career-high five stolen bases while Daclan added three stolen bases and Waters had a stolen base.
The Hornets return to action on Wednesday, March 18th at 1 and 4 pm at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Mo.
