Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2
The Pioneers improved to 4-0 in the HAAC with a double header sweep at Culver-Stockton on Thursday. In the first game,
Clayton Brandt led off with a double and scored on a
Joe Smith single. Culver tied the game in the bottom of the first, but Smith put MNU ahead 2-1 with another RBI single in the second. MNU increased the lead to 3-1 in the fourth when
Ricco Moreno's 2-out single plated
Dylan Nave. Culver closed the gap with a run in the fifth, but that was the end of the scoring and the Pioneers won 3-2.
Kyle Olson (3-2) allowed 2 runs on 4 hits while striking out 7 in a complete game. And
Clayton Brandt (2-3, R, 2 2B, BB),
Ricco Moreno (2-4, R, RBI),
Joe Smith (2-4, 2 RBI), and
Tyler Meeks (3-3, 2B) led the offense.
In the 9-inning Game 2, the Pioneers managed just 2 hits, but the pitching of starter
Blake Robberson, reliever
Caleb Swartz, and closer
Tino Luna kept Culver bats quiet. MNU scored in the first when
Clayton Brandt reached after a dropped 3rd strike. Two outs later he scored on an error and MNU took a 1-0 lead. Culver answered with an unearned run in the bottom of the inning to tie the game, but the Pioneers re-took the lead in the third when
Brad Law tried to advance to 3rd on a wild pitch. The catcher threw the ball into left field, and that turned out to be the winning run. Culver had a runner on 3rd with 1 out in the eighth when
Tino Luna came to the mound to face the 3 and 4-hole hitters. Luna struck them both out to escape the eighth, then worked an uneventful ninth to pick up the save and complete the sweep.
Blake Robberson allowed no earned runs in 4 innings.
Caleb Swartz pitched 3.1 innings of scoreless relief for the victory.
Tino Luna struck out 3 of the 5 batters he faced for the save. And
Tyler Meeks (1-2, 2 BB, SB) and
Tomas Mark (1-3) got MNU's 2 hits.
The Pioneers are 11-9 (4-0 HAAC). The next game is a double header at Central Methodist (7-5, 3-1) on Saturday at noon.
