Tigers dominate in final home game

Friday, May 2, 2008
Ralph Pokorny/Daily Mail-- Nevada junior Devin Chapman beats the throw to third base in the third inning of Nevada's final home game of the season Thursday afternoon against El Dorado Springs.

Nevada took advantage of a beautiful, albeit windy Thursday afternoon to play some of its better baseball in a 10-2 win over El Dorado Springs in its final home game.

The Tigers continued their trend of falling behind in the first inning when junior starting pitcher Colby Shepherd gave up a two-run homer to Ethan McPeak on a pitch left out over the plate. As usual, Nevada came storming back in the bottom of the inning with five runs on four hits off El Dorado starter Alex Boonyakiti, highlighted by a 3-RBI double from sophomore Tyler Dobson.

The inning would have ended with no Tiger runs had it not been for a two-out error by El Dorado third baseman Cody Simpson on what should have been a routine ground ball hit by Shepherd. Instead Nevada piled on four more hits and took control of the game 5-2 after one.

Shepherd went the distance from there allowing just two runs on four hits in a complete-game performance. He recorded six strikeouts and retired nine straight batters from the second to the fifth inning. Shepherd was nearly flawless after the first-inning home run.

"Colby, he's a really tough competitor," head coach Jared Brown said. "I went out and talked to him afterwards but that was just a 'calm down a little bit, don't get too hyped up.' He's going to go right back in there and get back after it.

"He said he threw a pitch he probably shouldn't have and, you know, that happens. He came back and he threw well for the rest of the game. I'm really proud of his effort."

The effort at the plate was almost equally impressive for Nevada. The Tigers' ten hits didn't do the consistent team effort at the plate justice. Boonyakiti was forced from action after two innings and six Nevada runs. Cody Hooper entered the game in the third and held Nevada to two runs over four innings before a three-run flurry from the Tigers in the sixth put the game out of reach at 10-2.

"We started hitting the ball again and things started clicking," sophomore designated hitter Ron Johnson said. "The defense was solid, we cut down on the errors this game. We just hit the ball and that's what it took."

The win was nothing if not therapeutical for Nevada, which was coming off a run-rule loss to Webb City Tuesday. After the game Brown said he was impressed by the way his club bounced right back and picked up a win.

"We came out, we made plays, made them all around the field," Brown said. "I'm proud of our effort. Coming off a struggling game we came out and we took care of business today and it's good to see us do that. Hopefully we can take that into the next game."

It was a bittersweet victory for the Tiger seniors who played their final home game at Lyons Stadium. The Tigers left the seniors with a fond last memory after senior night was spoiled by a less-than desirable performance.

"It was the last home game, the fans here are great, I love playing here," Alexander said. "I'm just having a lot of fun, that's the way to play right."

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