By MATT PIKE
The St. Joseph Mustangs avenged a road loss to the Chillicothe Mudcats on Tuesday, clobbering the Mudcats at Phil Welch Stadium on Thursday night for a seven inning run rule victory, winning 16-5 to open a three game homestand.
After Jarian Pickney scored the opening run for the Mudcats in the first inning on a passed ball, the Mustangs, who scored just three runs on Tuesday, scored eight unanswered runs to take the lead, first scoring twice in the bottom of the first as Jack Mosh singled home Trevor McCollum and Lafayette alum Brayden Luikart scored on a throwing error by right fielder Jordi Ventura.
Another two runs scored in the second inning for the Mustangs, Darius Freeman singling home Northwest Missouri State's Parker Griffith, and then as Freeman stole second base, Savannah alum Truman Bodenhausen came home on a throwing error by catcher Bruce Boucher. In the third inning, another four runs scored, first with an RBI single by Benton alum Chris Coy driving in Mosh. Coy scored later in the inning on a groundout by Bodenhausen, and another two runs came in with a single from Freeman, driving in Griffith and Lafayette alum Jayden Little.
Chillicothe did add a run to the board in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Boucher, bringing home John Spoto, but the Mustangs got that run back in the bottom half of the inning on another single by Coy, driving in Luikart to push the Mustangs lead to 9-2, ahead of a big five run inning in the fifth by St. Joseph, an inning that started with yet another RBI single by Freeman driving in Griffith.
Continuing to pour it on in the fifth inning, Luikart drove in his first runs of the game with a two RBI double, bringing home Bodenhausen and Freeman, before scoring himself, along with McCollum, to end the scoring in the frame on a double by Dom Felix. Luikart added another RBI in the sixth inning with a bases loaded walk, bringing home Bodenhausen, and Felix added another RBI as well in the inning with a sacrifice fly scoring Freeman to give the Mustangs a 16-2 lead.
With their backs against the wall facing the run rule defeat entering the seventh, the Mudcats attempted to make a push to get out of the deficit, Pickney reaching on a fielders choice and bringing home Boucher for an unearned run. The final two runs scored on a two RBI single by pinch hitter Derin Doucet, driving in Pickney and Ethan Murakoshi, but needing at least two more runs, with the bases loaded after back to back walks to Ventura and Tanner Sears, Mustangs reliever Jase Johnson struck out the final two batters to end the game.
Austin Nance earned the win for the Mustangs, pitching five innings and giving up two runs on four hits, striking out four and walking one. At the plate, Luikart was 3-for-3 with a double, a stolen base, two walks, and three RBI's. Freeman was 4-for-5 with a double and four RBI's.
The Mustangs are now 21-5 on the season, 16-4 in the MINK League, and they stay home next to play the Sedalia Bombers at Phil Welch Stadium with first pitch at 7pm.
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