By MATT PIKE
The St. Joseph Mustangs tough luck away from Phil Welch Stadium continued against the Clarinda A's in Clarinda, Iowa, falling 10-0 in a shut out seven inning run rule game.
While the Mustangs are 8-2 at Phil Welch Stadium this season, they've struggled to get things going on the road going just 2-7. After falling to Clarinda on Monday 3-2 on the road, the Mustangs traveled to Joplin and split a doubleheader against the Jailbirds yesterday, losing the first 5-4 and winning the second 5-2. The win in the second game was their first road win in a week, after last beating the Carroll Merchants on the road 12-7 on June 17th.
Lawson alum Lane Chapman pitched four innings, giving up five runs in the loss, striking out six and walking one while giving up seven hits. The A's opened the scoring in the first inning with a steal of home by Sean Bazmore as Andrew Young was caught stealiing second. A groundout in the third extended the lead, driving in Grant Lokken, before an RBI double brought home Young to make it 3-0 at the end of three innings.
An RBI single in the fourth added one more run, driving in Oscar Yuhas, before the fifth run against Chapman scored as Lokken stole home. Chapman was replaced by Plattsburg alum Keegan Gudde who pitched the fifth inning, giving up one run on one hit, walking one and striking out one, a wild pitch from Gudde allowing Cole Baumgart to score and give the A's a 6-0 lead.
The Mustangs did have a chance to score in the top of the sixth inning, Missouri Western's Seth Winkler was hit by a pitch and Lafayette alum Brayden Luikart singled with one out, before Atchison alum Boston Bruce struck out for the second out. Winkler's Missouri Western teammate Micah Kobuszewski singled to load the bases, but on a 2-2 count, Tyler Gundelfinger struck out to end the top half of the inning.
West Platte alum Jaxon Turner pitched a clean sixth inning, but then allowed the walk off to happen in the seventh with the final four runs scoring. A bases loaded walk brought home John Petrie for the first run of the frame before back-to-back RBI singles scored Evan Bradshaw and Yuhas. With one out, a sacrifice fly to Luikart in center field ended the game when Lokken crossed home plate. Turner pitched 1.2 innings giving up three hits and three runs, striking out four and walking five.
The Mustangs struggled to get baserunners through the game, getting just nine overall with four hits, two walks, and three batters hit by a pitch. Luikart was 1-for-2 with a walk while Bruce was 1-for-3. Kobuszewski was also 1-for-3, as was Gundelfinger for the four hits.
St. Joseph is now 10-9 overall, 8-8 in the MINK League, and return to Phil Welch Stadium tomorrow to host Clarinda. First pitch will be at 7pm.