Spartans Take Down Central and Luther to Stay Alive
May 10, 2019
Box Score vs Central Box Score vs. Luther
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - The University of Dubuque baseball team staved off elimination for another day, winning two games on Friday at the American Rivers Conference Tournament. The Spartans beat Central 3-2 in the early game before taking down Luther, 3-1 in the night cap.
Game One
UD 3, Central 2
Score by Innings R H E ------------------------------------------- Central College..... 010 010 000 - 2 8 2 U of Dubuque........000 012 00X - 3 1 1 -------------------------------------------
How it Happened
-For the second time in as many days, the Dutch struck first after Schneiderman walked home a run. However, UD would avoid any more damage in the frame by leaving the bases loaded.
-In the top of the 5th, Central drilled a solo home run to left center to expand their lead to 2-0.
-The Spartans drew back-to-backs walks to begin the bottom of the fifth. After a fielder’s choice, the Spartans got a gift by way of a error by the Dutch third baseman, allowing UD’s first run to score. Another Central error loaded the bases for the Spartans with two outs but a ground out to the first basemen ended the mini-rally.
-Thomas Kempf was the first Spartan to get a hit, dropping a blooper in front of the left fielder to put runners on first and second with no outs. UD would load the bases after a walk and scored the tying run on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Jarad Clevenger.
-The Spartans took the lead for the first time with a Jordan Goldstein sacrifice fly to right center to make it 3-2 in favor of UD through six innings.
-Central threatened in the top of the 8th as they put runners on second and third with one out. A strikeout by Sewruk and a flyout got the Spartans out of the jam and remained in the lead.
-Central led off the ninth with a double, but two straight ground outs and a pop out gave the Spartans the 3-2 win despite recording just one hit.
At the Plate
Thomas Kempf: 1-3
Justin Jensen, Zach McCoy and JJ Valencia each drew two walks.
On the Mound
Nathan Schneiderman: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 6 K
Nick Sewruk (W): 4.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
Game Two
UD 3, Luther 1
Score by Innings R H E ------------------------------------------- U of Dubuque........000 001 200 - 3 8 1 Luther College...... 000 100 000 - 1 5 0 -------------------------------------------
How It Happened
-The first real scoring chance from either team came from the Spartans in the top of the 4th inning. UD put runners on the corners with two down but Jarad Clevenger sent a chopper to the Luther first baseman to keep the game scoreless.
-However, it would not remain scoreless much longer as Luther scored on a sacrifice fly to left field in the bottom half of the fourth to make it 1-0. On the sacrifice fly, Clevenger made a diving catch on the warning track to keep any more runners from reaching base in the inning.
-Kellen Mitchell walked to begin the top of the sixth inning and came around to score when Thomas Kempf sent a shot to center, twisting around the center fielder before falling to the ground, tying the game at 1-1.
-With two down and two on in the bottom of the sixth, Luther sent a shot into the left center gap. The ball was tailing away from center fielder Justin Jensen, but he laid out full extension for the diving grab to keep Luther off the board in the inning.
-The top of the order sparked a UD rally in the top of the seventh as Lasswell and Jensen both singled to chase Luther starter, John Colluci, Kellen Mitchell would greet the Norse reliever, Kyle Bode, with a double to left center, bringing home both UD base runners to give UD their first lead of the game at 3-1.
-Tyler Carlson took the mound to start the ninth inning with 108 pitches and he would avoid any drama in the inning, allowing a runner to reach first but that was it for the Norse in the inning, giving UD the 3-1 win
At the Plate
Kellen Mitchell: 2-3, 2 BB, 2 RBI , 1 R, 1 2B
JJ Valenica: 2-3
On the Mound
Tyler Carlson: 9.0 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
The Spartans move on to face #1 seed Coe at 10:00 a.m. in another elimination game and the winner will move on to take on Buena Vista for the championship.
