Longball Carries Tigers Past Blue Raiders
Facing Lindsey Wilson's ace, the Tigers continued to feast on the oppositions' pitching. In the first inning, three different Tigers would reach base, but would be unable to score. In the second inning, it would be a completely different story. Junior Joshua Duarte would step up to the plate with two on and two outs. Duarte would then deposit one over the left center wall, giving them a 3-0 lead. Then in the 4th, the Tigers would add to their lead. Very familiar faces, Nick Lopez and Payton Rios, would be at the center of the scoring. Rios would single home a run and Lopez would hit a sacrifice fly, to extend the lead to 5-1. The Tigers would add two more runs, in the 7th and 8th from solo home runs from Hank Schineller and Joey Lapolla. Seven Tigers would record a hit, with Lapolla, Schineller, and Duarte all having multiple hits.
A 3-0 lead is all senior starter Johan Castillo would need on this night. Castillo would only allow two runs over the course of his six innings. Tonight would lower Castillo's ERA to 1.73, second lowest in the conference. While on the mound, Castillo would only allow four hits. One of LWC hits would be a solo homerun, with the other three all being in his sixth and final inning. On his 99th and final pitch of the night, he would get a ground ball to second base, to strand two Blue Raiders. On for the seventh inning would be Christian Santillanes. He would be hurt by some walks, but would not allow anyone to score. In the 8th, Santillanes would still be on the mound, but would be relieved for Mason Mortimer who would enter with runners on 1st and 2nd. Mortimer would execute perfectly by getting a fly out and stranding two more runners for LWC. Mortimer would come back out for the 9th, and handle business. LWC would get a single to start off the inning, but that would be it as Mortimer would get a strike out, line out, and a ground out to close the game out. Johan Castillo would move to 4-0 on the season, in his fourth start.
The Tigers are back in action tomorrow, as they play Lindsey Wilson in a doubleheader starting at 1 pm EST. Game two is slated to start shortly after the first game's conclusion. The Tigers moved to 14-2 on the season and remained perfect in Mid-South Conference play at 4-0.
