The Saint Xavier baseball team traveled to Georgetown, Kentucky for four games to officially kick off the 2016 season. It would be the first time since October that the Cougars saw live action on a baseball diamond after being locked inside during the frigid winter months.
A four game weekend set with Georgetown College allowed SXU to get back into the swing of things. The more games played before conference match-ups begin the better. Traditionally, pitchers have the upper hand early in the season due to initial frigid temperatures, and extensive offseason preparations.
Hitters are often subjected to experience less live pitching during the winter, which bodes well for the guy with a glove 60 feet six inches away.
February 19 v Georgetown College Game 1
The Cougars of Saint Xavier opened 2016 against 4-3 Georgetown College on a chili Kentucky afternoon. Sophomore Tyler Hebel, who threw a seven inning no-hitter last season, got the started for SXU and pitched well for his first outing of the year.
Unfortunately, Saint Xavier struggled to get their bats going, and only had four players reach base in the contest. Short stop Garrett Bright and second baseman Mark Martin each earned a walk to their credit while catcher Ryan Pellack had the lone hit for the Cougars.
Hebel hurled five innings and allowed six hits, two runs (none earned) while striking out six Tiger hitters. It was a pitcher’s duel up until the Tigers’ half of the fifth inning, when errors ultimately hurt the Cougars in the end.
With two outs and a runner on first base, Georgetown outfielder Robert Longtree singled to center, but was able to advance to second after a throwing error. With Tigers on second and third, a Georgetown single scored the first run of the game and another Saint Xavier error allowed a second runner to score, putting Georgetown in front 2-0.
In the sixth, freshman John Constantino relieved Hebel and allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits and two errors. The Cougars fell behind 4-0 and lost game one by that score.
February 19 v Georgetown College Game 2
Sophomore left-hander Matthew McKenzie got the start for the Cougars in game two, and did not have much luck in the third and fourth innings. On the plus side, Saint Xavier’s bats woke up in game two by compiling nine hits.
SXU came out swinging in the first. Junior Alex Neufeld led off the game with a single, and advanced to second on a groundout to the pitcher. Later in the inning, junior Tom Hayes hit a clutch two-out RBI single to left field that allowed Neufeld to score.
The Cougars were not able to manufacture more than one run in this game, and left eight runners on base. McKenzie was cruising until the bottom of the third. With one out and men on first and second, a wild pitch allowed each runner to move up a base. It turned out to be costly as a ground ball to third tied the game at one.
Georgetown College was able to eventually add three runs in the bottom of the fourth and later added an insurance run in the sixth to go ahead by four runs. SXU fell in game two, 5-1.
February 20 v Georgetown College Game 3
The Cougars were determined to salvage a victory in their weekend trip to Kentucky, and took the Tigers to nine innings in the first game of their doubleheader on Saturday. Saint Xavier put together 11 hits in the contest with none bigger than Alex Neufeld’s clutch sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth that gave the Cougars a thrilling extra-inning victory.
Catcher Ryan Pellack produced two hits while third baseman Eric West had a big game with two hits, two RBI and two walks. Left-fielder Steve Carrabotta joined the fun with his two hits in four trips and had a run scored.
Junior starting right-hander Jeremy Dryier had a gutsy performance throwing seven innings, and allowed four runs (two earned) on eight hits, three walks and two strikeouts. Erik Eggert was credited with the win for Saint Xavier after shutting the door in two scoreless innings.
After the Cougars built a 3-0 lead after four frames, Georgetown answered with two runs of their own in the bottom of the fifth. SXU responded quickly with one run in the top of the sixth to go up 4-2, but allowed the Tigers to tie it at four in the bottom half of the inning.
Saint Xavier won their first game of the season 5-4 in nine innings.
February 20 v Georgetown College Game 4
The fourth and final game of the weekend against the Tigers of Georgetown did not particularly go in the Cougars’ favor. Saint Xavier pitchers gave up a combined 16 runs (15 earned) in five innings. Georgetown College started the scoring in bunches as the Tigers managed eight runs over the first three innings to quickly bury the Cougars.
Sophomore Agustin Guerrero had a pinch-hit, two-run single in the fourth inning that ended up being the only runs of the contest for Saint Xavier. First baseman Bryan Polak had a hit and a run scored for SXU, while designated hitter Mike Owens had a walk and a run scored to his credit.
The game ended after five innings with a 16-2 final score in favor of Georgetown College. The Cougars will take on number 17 ranked University of Northwestern Ohio and number 14 ranked Tennessee Wesleyan this weekend.
Mike Rankin
Sports Contributor
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