SUMMIT –
Wyatt Blalock tossed a one-hit shutout to lift No. 14 Jones to a run-rule victory in the opener, but it was a five-run third in the nightcap that allowed the homestanding Southwest Bears to split Thursday's doubleheader with a 7-6 Game 2 win.
Jones moved to 15-11 and 8-4 in the conference and had a nine-game winning streak against Southwest snapped. The Bears improved to 4-12, 3-5 in league play.
The Bobcats will travel to Senatobia and Jim Miles Field for a 2 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday, live on
nwccrangers.com/watch.
Game 1 – Jones 12, Southwest 0 (5 inn.)
Blalock allowed a one-out double in the first inning, and that was it, as the redshirt freshman struck out five and walked just one en route to a run-rule victory.
Jones plated five in the first inning, using
Murray Hutchinson's leadoff walk to get things rolling. Hutchinson would later score, and
Jesse Johnson,
Garrett Clendenning and
Hunter French followed with RBI-singles.
Andrew Howard's two-run single capped the big start.
Kade Keeton homered to start the second, as part of a big 6-for-8 day for the freshman, and he would add a two-run double in the third.
DeeJay Booth made it 9-0 with an RBI-single in the inning as well.
The Bobcats would put the 10-run rule in effect with three more in the fifth on
Preston Ratliff's sac fly. A wild pitch and passed ball extended the margin to 12-0.
Jones had 10 hits in the opener, two apiece from Keeton, Booth and Clendenning. Braxton Cooksey had the lone hit for Southwest.
Game 2 – Southwest 7, Jones 6
An errant throw on a sac bunt helped Southwest score five runs in the third and they escaped a bases-loaded jam in the seventh to hang on for a Game 2 victory.
Jones led 3-0 in the top of the third after Ratliff's fifth home run of the year.
With two on for Southwest in the bottom of the inning,
Zach Flaskamp fielded a bunt cleanly but threw it away at third to help put the wheels in motion for a big inning. A batter later, Flaskamp went home on a bunt attempt and the runner was called safe at the plate. An RBI-single for Gage Gregory tied the game at 3-3 and Dillon Morgan's two-out, two-run double to right put Southwest on top 5-3.
Jonathan Havard homered to open the fourth, making it 6-3 and chasing Flaskamp for
Dylan Fontan.
Jones got a run back in the sixth on a throwing error and threatened in the final frame.
With two away, a walk, hit-by-pitch and error gave the Bobcats new life. Keeton then singled to make it 7-6 and Booth walked to load the bases. But Josh Bailey was able to come on and strikeout Ratliff to preserve the win and his first save for the Bears.
Jones left 12 stranded in the game, seven over the last three innings alone.
Keeton was a career-high 4-for-5 and Ratliff had a pair of hits.
