Saints Sweep Rose State

Seward County sophomores Hayden Howard and Brent Bezio did their best on the mound to keep the Saints momentum going Sunday afternoon at Brent Gould Field in Liberal, each pitching a complete game while holding visiting Rose State to just 7 hits on the day in 5-2 and 3-1 wins to finish off a series sweep of the Raiders.

With the wind howling in at as much as 50 miles per hour at first pitch, offense was tough to come by early on as the first 10 hitters of game two of the series were retired and the game was scoreless into the bottom of the 2nd. That changed in a hurry as Seward’s Dillon Drury hammered the first pitch he saw through the wind and over the right center field fence for a solo home run to give the Saints a 1-0 lead.

Saints starter Hayden Howard found himself in a little bit of trouble in the top half of the 3rd, allowing a single and mishandling a bunt to put two runners on and they promptly moved to second and third with one out after a sacrifice bunt. That is when Howard reached deep and got a little bit more out of the tank, striking out the next hitter on his two hardest pitches of the game and getting a groundout after that to keep Rose State off the board and the Saints ahead 1-0.

The Saints offense rewarded their lefthander in the bottom of the inning, using two Raider errors to extend their inning where they would score three times, one on a sacrifice fly from Drury and two more on a double from Antonio Dorado to stretch their lead to 4-0.

Seward plated their fifth run of the game in the 4th, using a one out single from Alex White and a double from Brandon Urquizo to put two runners in scoring position for Brent Williams who lifted a sacrifice fly to score White from third to make it 5-0.

Howard retired the next six hitters he faced to send the game sailing into the 7th and final inning with the Saints still on top 5-0.

Rose State finally mounted something at the plate against Howard in the 7th, getting a one out double to left to score two runs and bring the tying run to the on deck circle, but again Howard had a little bit more in the tank and got a groundout finally a strikeout looking to end the game and give the Saints s 5-2 win.

Howard was solid in the win, going the distance and allowing just 4 hits in an 86 pitch complete game. He didn’t walk a batter in the contest and struck out 8 to improve to 3-2 on the year. The Saints got a 2 hit day from Nic Ricigliano and got 2 RBI games from both Drury and Dorado in the victory.

SEWARD COUNTY/ROSE STATE GAME TWO BOX SCORE<http://www.sewardsaints.com/sports/bsb/2014-15/boxscores/20150329_qbpy.xml>

It was more pitching leading the way for the Saints in the series finale, this time from righthander Brent Bezio.

The Saints once again got out to an early lead in the second game of the doubleheader after Bezio retired Rose State in order in the 1st and saw a White leadoff double later turn into a run on a Rose State error to put the Saints up 1-0 after 1.

Seward added to their advantage in the 3rd, using another Raider error to extend an inning and this time it was Alec Isaac coming through with a two out double to score a pair to make it 3-0 Saints.

A leadoff walk by Bezio led to a Rose State run in the 4th to make it 3-1, but Bezio settled down from there. The redshirt sophomore set down the side in order in the 5th on just eight pitches and put up another goose egg in the 6th to quickly send the game to the 7th with Seward still clinging to a 3-1 lead.

A Seward error to begin the inning gave the Raiders three cracks at tying the game, but Bezio was simply better on this day, getting a pair of pop outs and a lineout to end the threat and the game, giving the Saints a 3-1 victory to sweep the three game set.

Bezio was sharp for Seward on the hill, allowing just 3 hits and 1 run in the complete game victory. He won his fourth consecutive start to move to 4-1 on the year, striking out 5 and walking just 1 in the process. The Saints offense didn’t have a ton to show for after the victory as they managed just 5 hits in the blustery conditions. Isaac was 1 for 3 with the 2 RBI’s on his 3rd inning double while White was 1 for 3 with a run scored at the top of the lineup.

SEWARD COUNTY/ROSE STATE GAME THREE BOX SCORE<http://www.sewardsaints.com/sports/bsb/2014-15/boxscores/20150329_teba.xml>

The doubleheader was completed in brisk order, taking just 2:51 to finish, 30 of those minutes coming between games.

The Saints have quietly won four straight and inch closer to the .500 mark on the season at 16-17 while Rose State continues their spiral downwards, falling to 8-13 on the year.

The Saints will play on the road at Frank Phillips on Wednesday in non-conference action before turning their attention to the Colby Trojans who Seward will welcome to Brent Gould Field on Friday and Saturday with doubleheaders starting at 1:00 both days.

Roy Allen