Griffons' come-from-behind win salvages split

An old saying goes, "The same thing that makes you laugh, can also make you cry." In this case it was the long ball. But the Nevada Griffons got the last laugh. Hurt by the home run in an opening game 15-7 loss to the Liberal (Kan.) Beejays, the Griffons used the same weapon to salvage a 5-4 win in the nightcap of the Jayhawk League doubleheader on Thursday night at Lyons Stadium. Arkansas Razorback Clay Goodwin, pinchhitting in the sixth inning of the second game with the Griffons trailing 4-2, lofted a towering three-run home run toward the scoreboard in right field to lift Nevada to a 5-4 advantage. "I was looking for a fastball…trying to be aggressive," said Goodwin. "That (pitch) was a mistake, definitely a mistake. He left a fastball up in the zone and I put a good swing on it." Mike Sillman, in relief of starter Mike Zagurski, made the score stand with his seventh save. Zagurski (2-1), the winning pitcher, went six innings in a brilliant effort, with 13 strikeouts while allowing only three hits, but needed Goodwin's heroics to pull out the victory. "That's all part of being a team, I guess," reasoned Zagurski. "I did my best to keep us in it, struggled in the middle innings, then Clay Goodwin came up and got the big hit. (I) tip my hat to Clay for a great swing on a good pitch." Zagurski also had a 12-strikeout performance against the Topeka Capitals earlier this season in a 3-2 Griffons' win. The Griffons (25-12, 10-10) led 2-0, but two solo roundtrippers by the BeeJays, one in the third and another in the fourth inning, knotted the contest at 2-2. Perhaps shaken a bit after the second Liberal homer, Zagurski issued three bases on balls sandwiched around a base hit to walk in a run. A bases-loaded sacrifice fly put the BeeJays up 4-2. Zagurski settled down to pitch scoreless ball in the fifth and sixth innings to set up Goodwin's knockout punch. Designated hitter Brandon Green led the six-hit offense with two hits. Opening game This one got ugly, early and late. After a 35-minute delay because an umpire failed to show, the game started. Unfortunately, the Griffons defense hadn't shown up either as they gave up three unearned runs to Liberal (14-13, 6-11) in the first inning, committing two errors. But Nevada bounced back with four runs in the bottom of the inning to retake the lead at 4-3. Goodwin, Green, Tim Law and Zach Hawks drove in one run each. A leadoff double by Eric Horstman and Chad Steele's RBI two-bagger sent the Griffons up 5-3 in the second. Liberal scrambled back to tie it at 5-5 with two fourth-inning runs. Zach Hawks' opposite-field RBI single scored Green to hand the Griffons their last lead at 6-5 in the fifth. Then came the nightmarish sixth inning. The BeeJays scored eight runs, with three home runs doing the bulk of the damage. Nevada starter John Findley (5-1), who had emerged as the Griffons' ace with a 5-0 record and a stellar 1.62 earned run average, ran into trouble and was pulled with the bases loaded and no outs. Reliever Evan Burgess entered the game and was immediately greeted with a first-pitch grand slam off the bat of Hunter Pence, Liberal's top long-ball threat with five on the season. Jared Clements followed with a solo blast, then with two outs, John Infante went deep to put the Griffons in an 11-6 hole. The shelling continued as the BeeJays added two more in the sixth and two in the seventh to complete the 15-7 rout. Steele, the Griffons' leading hitter who raised his average to .418, went 4-for-4 with three doubles. Kirk McConnell and Law had two hits apiece. The Griffons host Liberal tonight at 7 p.m. for the final game of the three-game set. Note: Kyle Ruesnick of El Dorado Springs, Mo., came to the rescue, on short notice, to replace the missing umpire.