Nevada Red Sox win fourth straight at home

Ralph Pokorny/Herald-Tribune Red Sox right fielder Kohlten Wilson dives safely back to third base during Thursday's game against Harrisonville. [Click to enlarge]

NEVADA, Mo. -- Just one day after the Nevada Red Sox AAA baseball team earned a doubleheader sweep at Carthage, they made their return to Lyons Stadium in what could be the final home contest of the year, squaring off against the Moose of Harrisonville.

At Carthage on Wednesday night, Red Sox starter Ron Johnson showed a very strong performance on the mound on the way to a 7-4 victory. Jerrod Alexander led the offensive effort for Nevada with a three-run homer in the contest before Ryan Austin came on to close out the game and seal the victory.

"Boy, he (Alexander) hit a bomb last night," Red Sox head coach Jim Rayburn said. "There was no doubt about it as soon as it left the bat."

In game two, both offenses really came to life, but the Red Sox came out on top by a final score of 13-10 to complete the sweep. "At Carthage last night, they just came out ready to play," Rayburn said.

Thursday's contest proved to be a similar scenario as the Red Sox used every part of the field to scatter a total of 19 hits on their way to a 12-4 victory.

Thursday's contest got off to a slow start for both offenses as starters Austin Baldwin, Nevada, and Dylan Eppert, Harrisonville, were both able to keep the opposition at bay. Eppert needed some help from his defense to get out of the frame with no damage, however, as the Red Sox were able to come up with back-to-back one-out hits in the opening frame.

The Moose were the first to get on the board as they notched three consecutive hits to begin the inning. The Moose eventually plated three runs to take an early 3-0 lead before Baldwin and his defense were able to recover and get out of the inning.

The Red Sox looked as though they would go down quietly in the home half of the frame, but a two-out rally that was kept alive by a costly Harrisonville error allowed them to get back into the contest. The Red Sox plated two runs of their own in the frame, cutting Harrisonville's lead to 3-2 heading into the third.

The Moose wasted little time in getting one of those runs back in the top of the third as Kenny Bias was able to drive in Landon Teal with a sacrifice bunt to the pitcher to bring Harrisonville's lead back up to two runs.

The Red Sox quickly answered with their second consecutive multi-run inning in the home half of the frame -- a rally that was started with two consecutive hits before the first out was recorded. That rally resulted in four more Nevada runs, giving the Red Sox their first lead of the game at 6-4 heading into the top of the fourth.

Baldwin's day on the mound came to an end with one out in the top of the fourth inning as he began to show obvious signs of wear, walking two consecutive batters after striking out Damien Hansen. Alexander took over on the hill in relief and was able to shut the Moose down with no damage, retiring two of the three hitters he faced to maintain the 6-4 Nevada lead.

The Red Sox needed just two pitches in the home half of the fourth to add to their lead as Alexander was hit by Eppert's first pitch of the frame and Tyler Dobson took the very next delivery over the right field fence for a two-run home run. The Red Sox went on to plate one more run in the frame, taking a 9-4 lead into the top of the fifth.

Baldwin pushed the Red Sox run total to double digits in the bottom of the fifth inning as he drove in Colby Shepherd on Nevada's second consecutive hit in the inning. Alexander quickly followed with his second home run in as many nights -- a two-run shot down the left field line -- to extend the Red Sox lead to eight runs with just one out in the inning.

Eppert's outing came to a close shortly afterward and Johnny Roam came on in relief with one out in the frame, hoping to keep the Red Sox from doing any more damage. Roam was able to shut Nevada down quickly, retiring two of the three hitters he faced to keep the Red Sox lead at 12-4.

That eight-run lead proved to be more than Alexander needed to seal the victory as he finished out the game without allowing a run, giving the Red Sox a 12-4 victory -- their fourth consecutive home victory.

Thursday's contest was the last scheduled home action for the Red Sox AAA squad this season, but Rayburn said that a makeup contest against El Dorado Springs could be held at Lyons Stadium on June 9.