Griffons squeeze out an opening-day win

Wednesday, June 4, 2003

Late-inning heroics helped the Nevada Griffons open the 2003 season on a winning note. Tim Law laid down a perfect two-out, safety squeeze bunt in the bottom of the ninth inning to drive home the game winner in a 6-5 win over the Springfield Slashers on Tuesday night. Law, a Brigham Young University junior first baseman, said, "Yeah. I did it on my own. I looked out and the defense was playing back, deep at first, deep at third. So I figured if I can get it past the pitcher, I'm going to beat it out and we're going to go home happy." It worked to perfection. Trailing 5-4 going into the ninth inning, the Griffons got a leadoff hit from second baseman Eric Horstman, a sophomore at Southeast Missouri State University. Horstman advanced all the way to third on a couple of throwing errors on a failed pickoff attempt, then scored on Josh Thomas' RBI single to center field, tying the game at 5-5. The next batter Dwayne White walked. A wild pitch sent White and Thomas to second and third, before two consecutive strikeouts made extra innings look like a distinct possibility. Brian Bugg then walked to load the bases, setting up Law's heady play. Law pushed the bunt down the third base line and beat the throw from Slasher pitcher Herman, whose only play was at first base, while Thomas scampered home with the game winner. "You've got to give the credit to him (Law)," said Griffons' head coach Daryl Byrd. "He executed it. He did the job. He made it happen." The final run, the only time the Griffons had held a lead in the contest, capped a comeback from an early 3-0 deficit. A first-inning three-run homer to deep right field by Kyle Rapinchuck had lifted the Slashers to a 3-0 lead. Nevada plated one in the second when Thomas, a sophomore from Bossier Parish Community College in Bossier City, La., was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, driving home Law. The Slashers increased their lead to 5-1 with two runs in the top of the fifth, but the Griffons bounced back with three of their own in the fifth to cut the lead to 5-4. And that's the way it stood until the final at-bat in regulation. The Griffons mounted a nine-hit offense, led by Horstman, Thomas, Law and Kevin Bills with two hits apiece. White had the other hit, an RBI single. Byrd rotated pitchers, getting three innings each from Chris Reed, a U. of Texas-Arlington sophomore, Ty Hanson, a Bossier Parish CC junior, and Fort Scott, Kan., native and current Fort Scott CC freshman Keith Lancester, who picked up the win. "We wanted to make sure that we didn't throw any guy too many innings and every one of them did the job," said Byrd. Byrd also singled out the stellar defensive play of Nevada's Zach Hawks at shortstop and Horstman at second. "They played extremely well up the middle and made every play," he said. Byrd added, "I'm excited about the way we played tonight in game one. They kept scratching and clawing and fighting to get back in the game." The Griffons continue a two-game homestand with the Wichita Twins at Lyons Stadium tonight at 7 p.m.

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