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Griffons defeat Generals, break four game skid
The Nevada Griffons finished out their homestand Sunday afternoon as they hosted the Ozark Generals, earning a strong 5-0 victory -- their first win in the last five games.
The Griffons came into the contest hoping to rebound from a 9-6 loss Saturday night at the hands of the St. Joseph Mustangs -- Nevada's fourth consecutive loss overall and second straight at home -- and to have a repeat of the very strong performance they showed in their first meeting with the Generals on June 2, when they picked up an 11-2 victory in Clever, Mo.
The two teams were scheduled to square off again in Clever on June 24, but that game was called off due to heavy rains that moved in just before game time.
The Griffons were the first on the board in the game as they were able to open up their offense early and took control of the game. Peter Barrows got the rally started with an RBI base hit to left field to bring home Jason Houston, but that turned out to be just the beginning as the Griffons were able to put up five runs on seven hits in the frame to take a 5-0 lead heading into the second.
Only one of the seven hits that the Griffons scattered across the field in the inning came before the second out was recorded and all five runs came as a direct result of six consecutive two-out hits.
Every player in the Griffons' lineup got a plate appearance in the opening frame on the way to taking an early 5-0 lead heading into the second inning.
Nevada starter Kyle Oestereicher came into the day with a somewhat lofty ERA of 5.04 and opposing hitters had been touching him for a .303 batting average after allowing 30 hits and 14 earned runs in his first 25 innings of work this season, but none of that seemed to matter as he shut down the Generals almost completely through the early innings, facing just one over the minimum through the first four frames.
Ozark starter Julian Palazon was able to recover quickly after a rocky first inning to retire 13 consecutive hitters, but his offense was unable to get around a very strong performance from Oestereicher that was aided by sound defensive play from the Griffons.
The Generals nearly got their second hit of the game to lead off the fourth, but left fielder John Wagle made a spectacular running catch as he hit the fence to rob Casey Trevarthen of extra bases.
"I didn't get between two posts, I got right into a post," Wagle said. "That was the worst part."
Oestereicher began to show signs of wear in the top of the sixth inning as he allowed the first two hitters he faced -- one of which came on his only walk of the day -- but was still able to get out of the inning with no damage, thanks to picking off both runners on the bases.
The Griffons were finally able to end Palazon's streak of 13 consecutive batters retired in the sixth inning with their first hit since the opening frame -- a leadoff single by Joe Lincoln -- but couldn't take advantage. Lincoln was quickly erased on a fielder's choice before Palazon recovered and put down the next two batters to get out of the inning quickly and keep the Griffons off the board in what ultimately became his final inning of work.
Oestereicher gave up the mound in the eighth inning to Morgan Smith, putting an end to a very strong day. Oestereicher gave up just four hits and was able to record seven strikeouts and just one walk and one hit batter through his seven shutout innings of work.
Sunday's performance lowered Oestereicher's ERA to 3.94 on the year while dropping his opponents' batting average more than 20 points to .281.
Neither offense was able to find the scoreboard again for the remainder of the day, giving Nevada a 5-0 victory in the game and bringing an end to their four-game losing skid.
"Obviously, putting up five in the first is good, but if we can keep that up, it would be better," Griffons head coach Ryan Mannsfield said. "I would have liked to have seen a little bit more."
With Sunday's win, the Griffons now improve their record to 10-10 on the year, 9-8 in MINK League play and are set to take on the Generals again tonight, this time in Clever, Mo., in a doubleheader that is set to begin at 6 p.m.