By MATT PIKE
The St. Joseph Mustangs tied up the game in the third inning against the Chillicothe Mudcats, but the Mudcats scored seven unanswered runs on way to a 10-3 win over the Mustangs, handing St. Joseph their second straight loss on Tuesday night.
The Mustangs opened the scoring in the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Dom Felix, driving in Savannah alum Truman Bodenhausen. In the bottom half of the inning, the Mudcats took the lead scoring three runs on a three run home run by Tanner Sears that scored Garret Geenen and Jordi Ventura for a 3-1 lead.
An Easton Phillipe single drove in Trevor McCollum in the second inning, cutting the Mudcats lead to one, before the Mustangs tied the game up in the third inning on an RBI double by McCollum, bringing home Felix. In the bottom half of the third though, Chillicothe took the lead back for good, John Spoto doubling to drive in Geenan, advancing Sears to third base who scored on a wild pitch. Derin Doucet reached on a fielders choice and Spoto scored on an error by third baseman Tyler Gundelfinger
Chillicothe added two more runs in the fourth inning. Ventura singled with the bases loaded to drive in Ethan Murakoshi, keeping the bases loaded. Spoto reached on a fielders choice with the bases loaded and Jarian Pickney scored on another error by Gundelfinger. In the seventh inning, the final two runs scored, the first on a bases loaded walk to Rafael Calcano, scoring Bruce Boucher, before Clayton Eskra scored on a wild pitch.
Chillicothe got to left handed pitcher Landon Reith who had been stellar for the Mustangs this season, handing him the loss pitching four innings and giving up eight runs on nine hits, striking out six and walking one. At the plate, Felix was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI. McCollum was 2-for-4 with a double, a stolen base, and an RBI.
The Mustangs are now 20-5 on the season, and 15-4 in the MINK League, and are off on Wednesday. They return to Phil Welch Stadium on Thursday and will host Chillicothe, with first pitch at 7pm.
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.