Griffons roughed up by Capitals at home, regroup to sweep Dusters on the road

Tuesday, July 15, 2003

The dog days of July seem to be exacting a toll on the Nevada Griffons. The Griffons (25-15, 10-13), losers of three straight, were swept by the Jayhawk League cellar-dwelling Topeka Capitals, 19-9 and 6-2, at Lyons Stadium on Saturday. "We're going through a little bit of adversity right now, as a team," said Griffons coach Daryl Byrd, "but that's the game of baseball. Baseball's a game of failure and you've got to be mentally strong and tough to play this game. We've just got to reach back, overcome it and have some fun." A first-pitch home run by the Capitals' designated hitter Shawn Smarsh, his first of two, proved to be a harbinger of things to come. Topeka scored five first-inning runs, two in the second and two in the third to take a commanding 9-3 lead. Topeka upped the lead to 15-4 going into the bottom of the fifth before the Griffons pushed across five runs on two-run singles by Chad Steele and Brandon Green and a bases-loaded walk to Kirk McConnell to narrow the margin to 15-9. But that was as close as the Griffons got as Topeka tallied four runs in the seventh to close out the 19-9 victory. The sound drubbing overshadowed an outstanding hitting performance by the Griffons' leading hitter Chad Steele, who went 4-for-5 with four RBIs. Steele is hitting .417. McConnell, hitting a solid .341, went 3-for-4 and catcher Brian Hastings raised his average to .300 with two hits. Alex Kringen (2-3) took the loss. Kringen, charged with 15 runs -- 10 earned -- allowed 11 hits, struck out five and walked nine. Seven Nevada errors marred the contest, leading to five unearned runs in the first game. The nightcap looked like a carbon copy of the opener as the Capitals jumped to a 4-0 lead in the first inning. Nevada, limited to only four hits, plated single runs in the first and seventh innings. Chris Reed (2-2) suffered the loss. He went six innings, allowed four runs on three hits, walked five and struck out three. Again errors -- five for a total of 12 in the doubleheader -- victimized the Griffons. Byrd suggested short memories as a remedy. He said, "We've just got to forget what's happened…what's happened is in the past and we can't control the past. We've just got to look to the future." Josh Thomas and McConnell led the tepid Griffon offense with two hits each against winning pitcher Shawn Valdez-Fauli (1-1), who went the distance. Notes: n The Griffons lost two players over the weekend. Infielder/outfielder Kevin Bills, hitting .305 and tied for the team RBI-lead with 26, left with a wrist injury. He is to undergo surgery this week in Scottsdale, Ariz. Outfielder Greg Kish, third-leading Griffons' hitter at .351, bowed out to attend to family business. Both Kish and Bills expressed a desire to return for the NBC World Series, if possible. "We don't want to go in shorthanded," said Byrd. "Whenever we find out what Kish and Bills' status is…if they can't come back then, obviously, we need to bring some guys in to replace them." n The Newton Rebels cancelled Friday night's contest against the Griffons. ELKHART, Kan. -- The Griffons (25-15, 12-13) took a big step forward in righting the ship with an 11-6, 16-6 doubleheader sweep of the Elkhart Dusters on Monday. Nevada wasted no time, jumping on the Dusters for five first-inning runs. Brandon Green's two-run single opened the scoring, sending Eric Horstman and Kirk McConnell homeward. Gus Milner, a recent addition from Hutchinson Community College, ripped a two-run double in the inning. Horstman, the lightning-quick leadoff hitter, ignited the first-inning rally and collected five hits on the evening to raise his average to a sizzling .389. The Griffons added three runs in the fourth and capped the win with a three-run homer off the bat of Clay Goodwin in the seventh. Jeff Gray (2-1), a Southwest Missouri State University product, earned the win with a complete-game effort. In the second game, the Griffons again vaulted to an early lead, picking up four runs in the first. Milner had an RBI double and Brian Bugg drove home two runs with a double. In the second inning, Horstman doubled, advanced to third on McConnell's single and kept going when the ball was bobbled by a Duster fielder to increase the lead to 5-0. Milner's two run single lifted the Griffons to a 7-0 advantage. The Dusters bounced back with four in the second to narrow the margin to 7-4. A three-run homer by Chris Williams was the key blow. Tim Law's two-run single in the fourth and Goodwin's two-run ground-rule double in the fifth sent the Griffons ahead 11-4. Just as in game one, a three-run home run, this one by the hot-hitting Milner, keyed the scoring in the Griffons' seventh. With 11 hits in game one and 16 in game two, the Griffons' offense was on fire, as were several individuals. Milner raised his average from .167 to .429 with five hits in eight trips, including eight RBIs in the two contests. Law went 5-for-8, Horstman 5-for-9, Steele 4-for-7 and Goodwin weighed in with five RBIs. Chris Thompson evened his record at 2-2 with a complete game performance. The Griffons conclude the three-game series with Elkhart tonight with a single game at 7 p.m.

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