1/28/2008 - AC Baseball vs. Wharton
It wasn’t exactly the season opener the Angelina College Roadrunner
baseball team had hoped to achieve.
AC dropped a 16-12 slugfest to Wharton College on Monday, with the
Pioneers erasing a 10-4 deficit thanks to some timely hitting and some
untimely ‘Runner defense.
Wharton’s Alex Johnson drove in four runs with a pair of two-run
homers to the exact spot atop the left-field scoreboard; and Pioneer
reliever Mike Clark held the Roadrunners to just two runs over the
last four innings to earn the win. AC stranded eight runners over the
fourth, fifth and sixth innings, with much of that credit going to
Clark.
Former Lufkin Panther Kyle McDaniel, in his AC debut, took the
hard-luck loss. McDaniel allowed just one earned run in his 1 1/3
innings work; but a pair of Roadrunner errors in the sixth led to four
unearned runs to allow Wharton to break a 10-10 tie. McDaniel finished
with three strikeouts, two walks and two hits in his short stint on
the mound.
AC’s Chris Andreas picked up three RBIs on the day, including two on a
two-run homer in the second. Matt Thielepape also drove in three runs
with a double and a fielder’s choice; and Paul Prestera’s 3-for-4 day
included a two-RBI single and an RBI double.
Jake Rowell added a pinch-hit two-run dinger in the seventh.
The three-hour slug-a-thon left no time for a complete-game nightcap.
Game 2 was suspended due to nightfall in the fourth inning with AC
trailing 5-3. The game, a non-conference tilt, did not meet the
specifications for an official game, and the two teams will not make
it up.
Roadrunner head coach Jeff Livin said that while there were positives
offered by his young squad, there were plenty of concerns arising from
the loss.
“I thought our offensive approach was fantastic,” Livin said. “I was
as proud as I can be of our offense. But we won games last season with
pitching and defense, and we had neither today. It’s that simple.
“Our pitchers struggled all day, and when they made the pitches they
needed to make our defense didn’t bail them out. We’ve got better
talent than what we showed today.”
Despite the loss, AC saw some impressive debuts from several new
faces. Prestera’s first defensive chance in centerfield ended in a
beauty of a diving catch; Prestera played a solid center, fielding
each of his chances in the field. Shortstop Austin Lasprilla collected
a double, a single and a walk in reaching base in five of his six
at-bats; and Rowell’s first at-bat as a Roadrunner cleared the
right-field wall for the pinch-hit homer.
The Roadrunners (0-1) will host Blinn in a Wednesday doubleheader
scheduled for a 1 p.m. start.
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With teammate Austin Lasprilla going airborne
behind the play, Angelina College second baseman Nathan Hernandez
(No. 15) attempts to slap the tag on Wharton’s Alex Johnson during
Monday’s action at Roadrunner Field. AC dropped a 16-12 slugfest
to the Pioneers in the season opener. |
Angelina College pitcher Jason Gurka rocks and
fires during Monday’s game with Wharton at Roadrunner Field. AC
dropped a 16-12 slugfest to the Pioneers in the season opener.
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