Griffins Drop Its First Two Games Against Carthage

ST. LOUIS, Mo.—The Fontbonne University baseball team took on Carthage this afternoon at Shaw Park, however, the Red Men took the first two games of the series by the final scores of 5-3 and 8-3.

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In game one, the Griffins (8-8) tried a late rally in the ninth but the Red Men hung on for the victory. The team compiled seven hits and were led by Gus Purschke and Matt Tossick having two hits and an RBI each. Jackson Penrod also extended his hitting streak out to nine.

On the bump, despite pitching out of a couple jams, Levi Earnest took the loss as he went 5.0 innings, allowing one run and struck out a season-high six.

Carthage (9-2), got a solid pitching performance out of Kevin Tibor. The right-hander went 8.1 innings, allowing three runs (one earned) and sat down five. Brian Polaski came on in relief to record the final two outs and get the save. Offensively, Joe Sisk played a key role with his 2-for-4 performance and three RBI.

The Red Men struck first in the top of the second. Vince Schwartz reached base on a one out single and moved up to second on a wild pitch. After a groundout, he scored on Sisk's double to center, making it a 1-0 game.

That score remained the same up until the top of the eighth. The Red Men scored four runs on four hits, capped off by Sisk's two-run shot to right, extending the lead out to 5-0.

In the bottom of the ninth, though the Griffins made one final push. Michael Puckett, Jr., led off with a single and he moved up a base after Evan Siegler got on first after a Carthage error.

Purschke followed with a double to right and that scored pinch-runner Gunnison Heine. The line kept moving as Deiydon Rushing tacked on an RBI groundout, plating Siegler to cut it down to 5-2. Tossick hit an infield single and Purschke easily scored from third and now it was a 5-3 ball game.

After a pitching change, the Griffins had the tying run at the plate. However, Poalski got the final two Griffin hitters to fly-out, allowing the Red Men to hang on for the two-run win.

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In game two, defensive miscues in the third proved costly against the Red Men as they tacked on one run from the fourth until the eighth, going on for the five-run win.

Offensively, the Griffins were held to five hits and two of which came off the bats of Michael Golich and Puckett, Jr., who also led with a game-high three RBI. On the rubber, John Hughes was dealt the loss as he went 5.0 innings, allowing two earned runs and sat down five.

Carthage, meanwhile, got another solid pitching outing out of Nate Odahl. He tossed 6.0 innings, allowed three runs on three hits and struck out two.

At the dish, the Red Men totaled 11 hits and leading the way was Cody Phelps going 2-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBI.

In the first, the Griffins got on the board early. Golich walked, Jonathan Hoevelmann hit a bunt single and Penrod walked, loading up the bases with nobody out.

After a lineout, Puckett, Jr., brought home Golich with a sacrifice-fly to give Fontbonne the 1-0 advantage. In the third, though the Red Men scored three unearned runs on two hits, helped out by two Griffin errors, giving them a 3-1 lead.

They added another run in the fourth, fifth and sixth to push its lead out to 6-1. In the home half of the sixth, the Griffins got two of those runs back.

Golich led off with a walk and after a hit-by-pitch to Hoevelmann, the team had two one with nobody out. After a pop-out, Puckett, Jr., ripped a double down the left field line, plating the duo to narrow the deficit down to 6-3.

However, solo homers in the seventh and eighth, off the bats of Ryan Delton and Cody Phelps, gave the Red Men an 8-3 lead and the eventual win.

The two teams will be back at it tomorrow afternoon at 12 p.m., from Shaw Park.

Fans make sure to stay updated on fontbonnegriffins.com tomorrow night for a full recap and score.