Warriors pick up a pair of 6-5 wins in different ways

By QUINCY ALEXANDER, CJ Sports Writer
Commonwealth Journal

Somerset March 25, 2008 11:35 pm

— It would be a tale of two wins with a comeback and a nail-bitter at Warrior Stadium yesterday as Southwestern picked up wins number two and three, on the season, in contrasting fashion.
The Warriors beat Tri-County North out of Lewisburg Ohio in the afternoon and the Clinton County Bulldogs for the night cap with both final tallies at 6-to-5.
“We did (against Clinton County) what Tri-County did against us earlier,” Warrior Head Coach Rodney McAninch pointed out. “Tri-County got up on us 4-0 and they kind of quit while we jumped on Clinton County 5-0 and I feel like we let off the gas a little bit.”
Aaron Hampton would get knocked around a bit over his two innings of work allowing four runs off of four hits, but he did strike out a pair.
The Warrior bats took a while to warm up in the chilling winds yesterday afternoon against the Panthers of Tri-County North, but thanks to three shut down innings by Isaac Claywell, retiring nine straight batters, kept the Panthers at bay just long enough.
The bottom of the sixth frame would see a Warrior rally begin with one out on the board as Tyler Mayer drew a walk. A blistering single by T.T. Wooldridge, 5-of-7 with 3RBI and a walk in the two games, would put a pair of Southwestern runners on the base paths.
After a strikeout by Tyler Blair, Josh Wilson stepped in to lift an RBI single into left field. Dustin Hughes followed with a shot over the second baseman to plate another run while Jeff New scorched a base hit past second base to plate Wilson closing the four-run deficit to one.
“Our bats were just slow to get going,” explained the Southwestern skipper. “I’m not sure why necessarily, but the fifth inning on we really started getting some confidence and got settled in.”
Wilson would do his job from the mound containing the Panther batters in the top of the seventh to set the stage for an exciting finish.
Senior Austin Roush worked the count before delivering a double into right field giving the Warriors a runner in scoring position to start the bottom of the seventh stanza. Sophomore Alex Jones subsequently stepped in and would reach on an error to put runners on the corners for the Warriors while Mayer would then reach on a fielder’s choice.
“I told T.T. at the beginning of the inning that it would be up to him.” Assistant Coach Marty Mayer said after the game, and Wooldridge knocked a 2-1 pitch between a pair of Tri-County infielders into right field for a game winning two-RBI single.
“At first I thought he was kidding,” Wooldridge commented on his coach’s prediction. “I just went up there relaxed, settled in and got a base hit.”
A big hit it was as the walk-off single gave the Warriors their second win of the young season 6-5 over Tri-County North.
“Last year we wouldn’t have done that,” Wooldridge added about the come-back win. “This year it’s a different team. We stayed with it throughout the game and finally got the hits to drop.”
The Warriors kicked off game number two in a vastly different manner.
Hughes took to the mound for Southwestern two hours after getting one of the RBI to set up the comeback in game one and mowed down the first three batters he faced as he struck out the visiting Bulldogs in order.
Mayer would start off the game just as he started the rally earlier in the day by working the count in his favor and drawing a walk. Wooldridge followed suit by duplicating his part of the earlier win with an RBI single up the middle.
Wilson, who had 4 RBI on the day, came to the plate next and took the 0-1 pitch from Bulldog starter Brent Durham and sent it for a ride 340 feet over the left field wall for a two-run home run.
“He really did what he does well,” added Coach McAninch. “He extends his hands and uses his hips and torso to generate a lot of torque. I haven’t seen a ball hit that hard here in a while. If it weren’t for the wind it might have reached the tennis courts.”
A base on balls by New, who reached base on three-out-of-five appearances on the day, an RBI double by Claywell and an RBI single by Zach Fowler followed the Wilson bomb to put the Warriors on top 5-0 in the first inning.
Hughes had a rough second frame as Clinton County collected a pair of runs via a James Dyer single and a triple by Durham.
The Bulldogs would also plate a run off of Hughes in the fourth and put up two against Wooldridge in the fifth. The Warriors would score a run in the fourth frame via Hampton, but would be unable to get anyone across the plate, leaving seven runners stranded, the rest of the game giving the final score of 6-5.
“Fatigue may have been a factor in the second game,” the Southwestern Head Coach said of the Warriors offensive lapse against Clinton County. “It was a long day, but at the same time it is a chance to really get absorbed in the game.”
Fowler would be on the rubber in the seventh where he allowed one hit, but would earn the save by retiring the next three Bulldogs in order including a strikeout to give the Warriors win number two of the day and number three of the young season.
“I think we expected (Clinton) to roll over and play dead for us,” illustrated McAninch. “That is a lesson that seems like we’re always learning – we got to keep hitting, running and pressing to put a team away.”
The Warriors will be at home again tomorrow night at 5:30 as they face the East Jessamine Jaguars.
“We haven’t seen them in a couple of years,” the Warrior Head Coach pointed out about tomorrow’s contest. “We are going to hope that we come out and swing the bats more consistently. We will need to put together a solid seven innings.”

Tri-County – 1 3 0 0 0 1 0 – 5 7 1 – LP-Croley 2IP 5ER 6H K BB
Southwestern – 0 0 1 0 0 3 2* - 6 7 2 – WP-Wilson(1-0) 2IP ER 3H 2K 0BB
1B – Wooldridge 2, Mayer, Wilson, Hughes, New. 2B – Roush. RBI – Wooldridge 2, Mayer, Wilson, Hughes, New.

Clinton County – 0 2 0 1 2 0 0 – 5 6 2 – LP-Durham(0-1) 3IP 5ER 6H K 3BB
Southwestern – 5 0 0 1 0 0 x – 6 9 2 – WP-Hughes(1-0) 4IP 3ER 2H 5K 3BB – Save-Fowler (1)
1B – Wooldridge 3, Hampton, Wilson, Fowler. 2B – Claywell, Roush. HR – Wilson (1) RBI – Wilson 3, Wooldridge, Claywell, Fowler.

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