Lady Tigers hold on in opener

By Joe Warren

Nevada Daily Mail

NEVADA, Mo. -- For six innings the Nevada Lady Tigers dominated the Clinton Cardinals, only to watch it nearly slip away in the seventh.

Clinton scored four runs in the top of the seventh to tie the score at six, but the Lady Tigers scored in the bottom half on a walk-off groundout by Jessica Long to win the season opener for both schools, 7-6.

"She's feeling it," Nevada head coach Brandi Thomsen said of Long, who also had two hits in the game. "Whatever she's doing, she needs to keep on doing it."

Long grounded to short with Afton Baldwin on third and one out. The Clinton shortstop threw to first to get Long, but Baldwin scored on the play to end the game and give Nevada a winning start to the 2006 campaign.

"It's always nice (to win)," Thomsen said.

Nevada led from the start as they scored in each of the first four innings.

Katelyn Brier walked to leadoff the bottom of the first, went to second on a sacrifice by Rachel Kennedy and moved to third on a passed ball. Erica Klinksick drove in the first run of the season with a groundout to second, and Nevada led 1-0.

Long had the team's first hit of the season in the second. Her two-out single to left led to Nevada's second run. Shawna Alkire singled to move Long to third. A passed ball allowed Long to score and the Lady Tigers led by two.

Clinton finally scored in the third, using a single and a play that had three different Nevada errors to cut the Lady Tiger lead in half.

That unearned run was the only one Kennedy allowed in the circle the first five innings, as the freshman got the start in her first high school game.

Nevada added a couple of runs in the third on three hits and an error. Brittany Diehl reached on an error at short, and Baldwin reached on a bunt single. Diehl moved all the way to third on the single, as Nevada showcased aggressive base running throughout the game.

Blaine Gibbs singled to drive in Diehl and put Nevada back up by two. Tiffany Cartwright grounded into a fielder's choice, erasing Baldwin at third. Long followed with her second hit of the game to score Gibbs from second and the Lady Tigers enjoyed a 4-1 cushion.

In the fourth Nevada scored again, as Brier led off with an infield single. A wild pitch allowed Brier to advance all the way to third. Klinksick drove in her second run of the game on a ground ball to short, which was booted for an error, allowing Brier to score.

After neither team did anything in the fifth, Clinton scored a single run in the sixth on a double and a single.

Nevada made it 6-2 by answering in the bottom half. Alkire walked, went to second on a ground out by Brier, and stole third.

Klinksick singled, scoring Alkire and producing her third RBI of the game.

The great pitching performance by Kennedy was almost wasted as Clinton finally started hitting the freshman. Two singles and a double to lead off the inning produced a run and chased Kennedy.

"Rachel, being a freshman, was scared to death starting out," Thomsen said. "But she handled herself well."

Brier relieved and she almost shut the door. A strike out and a groundout failed to produce another Clinton run and the score was 6-3 with two outs.

Consecutive singles allowed three runs to score though and the game was tied at six.

That set up the heroics in the bottom of the inning. Baldwin struck out but the third strike was also a wild pitch and she was able to reach first safely. Gibbs followed with a bunt single, putting Baldwin on second.

Cartwright grounded out to short, but Baldwin went to third on the play setting up the winning play by Long.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the game was Nevada struck out only three times as a team.

"They hit the ball. Their aggressiveness on the bases and at the plate made a huge difference for us," Thomsen said.

Nevada (1-0) is at McDonald County today in their first Southwest Conference game.