Baseball Splits Series With Ecclesia College

Baseball Splits Series With Ecclesia College- Wil Teague, Sports Information Director, 3/2/24

Baseball wrapped their weekend series against the Royals by plucking game three with a big offensive wave in the sixth inning before dropping game four and splitting the series with Ecclesia College. The Pioneers now sit 6-6 on the year.

Game One: 

Crowley's Ridge- 11

Ecclesia College- 7

Pioneer Park- In the third contest, both teams had their bats perform strongly as there were sixteen total hits in the game. Though the Royals would outhit CRC, the Pioneers found themselves on the winning side as Crowley's Ridge prevailed 11-7. This victory is credited to the team's mammoth two-out-rally in the bottom of the sixth where the Pioneers reclaimed the lead by plunging eight runs across the plate. The Pioneers posted their first three runs of the game in the third inning with Kyle Russell scoring on a passed ball, Josh Schmitt's RBI walk, and James Wilson's RBI single to right field. Nevertheless, with a couple of big swings and a Royals' homerun, CRC entered the bottom half of the sixth trailing 6-3. CRC turned the page, rewriting the end outcome as they exploited the struggling Royals' pitching staff by sending 14 batters to the plate in the sixth. The Pioneers grabbed seven free bases by drawing five walks and two HBPs on top of manufacturing four hits. Trey Drake's two-out-bases loaded single kickstarted the scoring chain for CRC as the hit brought in two runs. Brylan Honeycutt followed Drake's at-bat with another two-run single that pushed CRC ahead by one allowing CRC to tack on to their lead with Honeycutt crossing home on a passed ball and pinch hitter Kade Lindgren bringing home two more with his single to left field. Catcher Matt Parker closed the inning with a clobbered RBI single to left center giving CRC the 11-6 lead as they entered the final inning. The Royals only responded with one run in their last three outs before Crowley's Ridge recorded the third out, earning them their 6th win of the year.

Parker Gordon tossed 5.0 innings where he surrendered 6 runs on 9 hits while walking 2 and striking out 3 earning a no-decision. Thomas Lamb took the win for the Pioneers as Lamb relieved Gordon by tossing 1.0 inning, allowing 1 hit in his outage. CRC scored their 11 runs off 6 hits, Trey Drake led the team in hits with two. Drake, Brylan Honeycutt, and Kade Lindgren all had two RBIs in the win. 

Game Two:

Crowley's Ridge-5

Ecclesia College- 9

Pioneer Park- The Pioneers entered game four on the verge of claiming their second series win of the season but with the Royals scoring in the first five innings of the game, it would force the Pioneers to settle for a series split. The Royals outhit CRC for the second time today and this time it paid off with Ecclecia taking the contest, 9-5. In the final game, the Royals took a three-run lead over CRC before the Pioneers produced an answer for the visitor's offense. In the bottom half of the second, Parker Gordon earned a bases-loaded walk which scored James Wilson from third, and for the second time today, Brylan Honeycutt used his swing to impact the ball game as the freshman smashed a two-out single to center field scoring Kade Lindgren and Jackson Imler tying the contest. Ecclesia's offense stayed hot with the visiting team continually scoring runs over the next three innings while CRC went the opposite direction and ran cold for the next four innings, putting them behind the Royals by a six-run deficit heading into the seventh inning. Head Coach Brenden Camp used up his reserves in the final inning and had it pay off with Crowley's cutting into the Royals lead by pushing two runs across the plate on four hits. Thomas Lamb earned his first RBIs of the season as the pinch hitter singled to right field and scored Kenny Nelms and Cannon Baker. Woefully, the Royals ended the comeback march by collecting the final out, taking the final contest, 9-5. 

Andrew Brown took the loss for the Pioneers as the senior's record was flawed with Brown being handed his first loss of the season. The southpaw allowed 9 runs (7 earned) on 11 hits, walking two and striking out two over 4.1 innings. The Pioneers produced 5 runs off 7 hits with Brylan Honeycutt and Thomas Lamb each having one hit and two RBIs in the loss. 

Up Next: The Mustangs of Central Baptist College are next up on the Pioneers' schedule. The contest is set for Tuesday, March 5th. 

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