DELPHOS — The game began with a sprinkle in the first inning and ended with steady showers in the fifth.
In between, much didn’t go right for St. John’s as the Blue Jays fell 9-0 to Minster in Midwest Athletic Conference baseball action Friday at Wildcat Field in Delphos.
The game was moved from Stadium Park due to wet field conditions.
The Jays (6-13, 1-5 MAC) got two hits off Minster (14-10, 5-2 MAC) starter Eric Trushaw (5 IP, 3 Ks). He finished with only 42 pitches, 30 for strikes. In two innings, he had only four pitches and induced 10 ground-ball outs.
“We went up there to be aggressive and try to get some confidence back. We didn’t strike out much and we put the ball in play,” Jays coach Dan Metzger said. “We had some nice shots but anything hit on the ground was slowed down by the wet grass. You have those days sometimes in baseball.”
Senior southpaw Taylor Bowersock (1-4; 4 IP, 5 hits, 6 runs, 1 earned, 3 bases-on-balls, 5 Ks) had to work hard against a patient Wildcat club to strand three runners in the first two frames, including leadoff man Robert Gruber at third with none down.
The visitors also fielded a lineup with six lefty swingers.
The Jays’ only real threat came in the second. With two down, Joel Pohlman lined a single to left; a throwing on Jordan Rode’s ground ball put runners on the corners. However, Austin Vogt grounded out to third to quell the threat.
Unfortunately, the bad inning that has been a nemesis of the Jays this spring reared its ugly head in the third. Gruber sliced a singled to center. Brian Mueller sacrificed; an error on the play allowed him to be safe as well. Aaron Heitbrink walked to load the bases. Andrew Baumer hit a sharp single to right to plate Gruber and Mueller. An error on Vince Fullenkamp’s grounder reloaded the sacks. Two outs hence, Sam Otting lined a single to right, scoring Heitbrink; a miscue on the sequence allowed Baumer home and put runners on second and third. Bryan Phlipot got them both home with a double to the fence in left for a 6-0 advantage.
“That was our bad inning. We’re too late in the season to be making those kinds of mistakes,” Metzger continued. “Minster is a very disciplined team at the plate that takes a lot of pitches and also hits the ball well. They are too darned good to give extra outs: in that inning, a walk, a couple of errors and a couple of hits and soon, it’s six runs. There were some plays we should have made, too. It’s hard for a pitcher to battle through that.”
With the rain increasing in intensity as the game wore on, the visitors finished it with three tallies in the fifth against freshman reliever Tyler Bergfeld. Fullenkamp led off with a free pass. Griner bunted him to second, from where he scored on a knock to center by Austin Baumer. Otting walked. An out hence, Gruber got a free pass to juice the bases. Mueller whacked a 2-run hit to center for the final runs.
When the Jays went down 1-2-3 — all ground balls — in the home half, the umpires called it a completed game.
“Minster made the plays in the field we didn’t. They have a nice defensive team,” Metzger added.
The Jays visit New Knoxville 5 p.m. Tuesday.