By MATT PIKE
After two days off, and on their first road trip of the season, the St. Joseph Mustangs offense was absolutely stymied against the Joplin Jailbirds, a new face to the MINK League, falling 9-1.
The Mustangs scored their lone run in the top of the first inning as Missouri Western's Seth Winkler walked and stole second base, advancing to third on a single by Lafayette alum Brayden Luikart, in his first game with the team, and eventually scoring on a passed pall, which allowed Luikart to advance to third base, after he also stole second. Luikart's single was one of just three hits by the St. Joseph offense.
The Jailbirds scored five runs in the bottom of the first inning. They added two more runs in the fifth inning, and scored the final runs in the seventh inning. The Mustangs got their final two hits in the top of the sixth inning on singles by Missouri Western's Micah Kobuszewski and Lafayette alum Jayden Little, but St. Joseph only got a runner as far as third base once more in the game after the opening inning, after Kobuszewski advanced to third in the sixth on a wild pitch. Both Little and Kobuszewski were in scoring position with two outs, but Carter Belton grounded out to end the inning.
JT Adams took his first official loss of the season, now 0-1, giving up five runs in four innings on five hits, walking one and striking out two. Adams has had a rough start to the season, he also gave up five runs on two hits and five walks with three strikeouts in 1.2 innings to the Kansas City Monarchs in the season opener.
At the plate, Little was 1-for-3 with a walk, but struckout twice. Kobuszewski was 1-for-4, also with two strikeouts, while Luikart in his season debut was 1-for-4 with one strikeout and a stolen base. Winkler was 0-for-3 with a walk, scoring a run and stealing a base.
The Mustangs are now 2-2 on the season, 1-1 in the MINK League, and stay on the road Wednesday for another MINK League game against the Nevada Griffons. They return to Phil Welch Stadium on Thursday, again hosting the Kansas City Monarchs, opening a three game homestand
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