McSpadden Wins 1,200th in Saturday Split

The Seward County Saints returned home to Brent Gould Field Friday for a day/night doubleheader against visiting Northeastern, splitting the twinbill with the Plainsmen on a 6-3 win in game one and an 18-12 loss in game two to begin their four game set.

Northeastern took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the 1st, but Seward quickly answered with a two out, two run double from Trent Powell to give the Saints a 2-1 lead.

A two run bomb by Northeastern’s JT Patterson put the Plainsmen back in front 3-2 in the 3rd, but again, Seward answered with an RBI infield single from Jared Hasik to knot the score at 3.

Saints starter Jared Biddy settled down and gave them zeros in the 4th and 5th innings, allowing Seward to retake a lead on a two run home run from Addison Kaasch and another RBI single from Hasik to make it 6-3 after five.

Biddy pitched around a leadoff double in the 6th and handed the ball to West Reddell in the 7th to shut the door and give Seward a 6-3 victory in game one.

The Saints collected seven hits in the opener, getting two apiece from Powell and Hasik who each had two RBI’s as well. Biddy earned his second win of the year by gutting through six innings, allowing five hits and three runs while fanning five. Reddell retired all three batters he faced in the 7th to earn his first save as a Saint.

SEWARD COUNTY/NORTHEASTERN GAME ONE BOX SCORE<http://www.sewardsaints.com/sports/bsb/2016-17/boxscores/20170210_f9si.xml?view=plays>

Game two was a shootout from the start as Northeastern scored four times in the top half of the 1st and Seward answered with an eight spot. The big blows for the Saints in the inning came off the bats of Law Greiner who cleared the bases with a triple and Jared Hasik who registered a pair of RBI hits in the frame to give Seward an 8-4 lead after a wild 1st.

Northeastern got a run back in the 3rd to make it an 8-5 game and then erased the Saints lead with a five run 4th to go in front 10-8.

The Saints bats went cold after the big start as Northeastern remained in front 10-8 through five and then extended their lead to 15-8 off the Seward bullpen with a five run 6th inning.

Seward loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the 6th, but were only able to score once, missing a big opportunity to remain behind 15-9.

At stretch time it was still a 15-9 game when Seward plated two more to get back to within striking distance at 15-11 on RBI knocks from Cody Stineman and Trent Powell.

Northeastern added three insurance runs in the 8th with a bases clearing double with two outs to make it an 18-11 game and Seward would score just once more as the Plainsmen finished the night off with an 18-12 win to salvage the doubleheader split.

The game wasn’t the prettiest for either side as the two combined for 22 walks and 10 errors in the contest. The Plainsmen outhit Seward 14-11 in the nightcap, getting a four hit game from Patterson who also scored five runs. Stineman led the Saints with three hits and three RBI’s while Addison Kaasch had a pair of hits and three runs scored. Saints starter Brian Tims lasted just 3 2/3 innings, allowing eight runs, five earned while Ethan Earhart took the loss out of the bullpen, yielding seven runs in just 1 2/3 innings pitched.

SEWARD COUNTY/NORTHEASTERN GAME TWO<http://www.sewardsaints.com/sports/bsb/2016-17/boxscores/20170210_fv38.xml>

Saturday

Seward County Head Coach Galen McSpadden reached another coaching milestone Saturday afternoon at Brent Gould Field, earning his 1,200th career victory as his Saints walked off the Northeastern Plainsmen 6-5 in the two teams series finale in Liberal.

Game one of the twinbill was dominated by Northeastern righthander Cooper Bailey. The Plainsmen cashed in on a one out walk in the top half of the 1st to give Bailey and Northeastern a 1-0 lead after one.

A Seward error to begin the 3rd allowed the Plainsmen to get things going again and Northeastern parlayed the mistake into a pair of runs to push their lead to 3-0.

Bailey faced the minimum in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th and it remained a 3-0 game to the 5th when Northeastern added another tally following a Seward error to make it 4-0.

The Saints didn’t threaten until the 7th and final inning where they got a two run single from Law Greiner to slice the Northeastern lead in half at 4-2, but when the Plainsmen went to their closer Ethan Cano-McGregor, it was over for the guys in green as he slammed the door, retiring both batters he faced to lock down the 4-2 win for Northeastern.

The top of the Seward lineup struggled in the loss as the Saints first four hitters combined to go 0-11 in the contest. Greiner and Jared Biddy had four of the Saints six hits in the loss. Jonathan Castillo took the loss on the hill, going six innings while yielding seven hits and four runs, three earned, while striking out seven.

SEWARD COUNTY/NORTHEASTERN GAME THREE BOX SCORE<http://www.sewardsaints.com/sports/bsb/2016-17/boxscores/20170211_ortq.xml>

Seward got their offense going earlier in the series finale as Greiner ripped a two run triple in the bottom of the 1st to give them an early 2-0 lead.

Northeastern struck back in the 3rd, getting three straight extra base hits with one out in the frame to score a pair of runs and knot the score up at two.

A solo home run for the Plainsmen in the 4th gave Northeastern a one run lead momentarily, but the Saints answered back in the bottom half of the frame, getting RBI knocks from Brian Tims and Errett Edwards to go back in front 4-3.

It was a tie game once again after the 6th as a leadoff triple and a Seward error led to a Plainsmen run to even the score at four.

After stretch time, Seward retook a 5-4 lead as the Saints loaded the bases without the benefit of a hit and scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Brendan Madsen.

Things were looking good for Seward as reliever West Reddell cruised through the Plainsmen order in the 8th and retired the first two hitters he faced in the 9th, but needing just one more out for victory, Northeastern got a first pitch, pinch hit solo home run to knot the score up for the fourth time in the game at 5-5.

A leadoff single in the bottom of the 9th by Jared Hasik got Seward going and a sacrifice bunt pushed him to second with one out. A walk put two on and a pop out on the infield marked the second out of the frame. With the game on the line, Errett Edwards came through big for the Saints, smacking a single to left to drive home Hasik, giving the Saints a 6-5 walkoff win and McSpadden win number 1,200.

Northeastern outhit Seward 9-7 in the game, but Plainsmen pitching walked 10 and Northeastern’s defense committed four errors to help the Saints cause. Edwards led Seward with three hits and two RBI’s including the game winner while Hasik was 1 for 2 with two runs, also the game winner. Reddell earned the win out of the Saints bullpen, eating up three innings, allowing just two hits and one run while striking out four to improve to 1-0 on the year. Jordan Pepper went six innings in his collegiate debut, allowing seven hits and four runs while striking out nine and not walking a single batter.

McSpadden earns his 1,200th career victory in the game four win, adding onto his already Jayhawk Conference record total.

SEWARD COUNTY/NORTHEASTERN GAME FOUR BOX SCORE<http://www.sewardsaints.com/sports/bsb/2016-17/boxscores/20170211_l5cd.xml>

Seward moves to 4-6 on the year with the split while Northeastern opens their year 2-2.

Next up for the Saints is a trip to Odessa and Midland, Texas Saturday and Sunday where they will take on Odessa in a doubleheader Friday followed by a split doubleheader against Midland and McLennan on Sunday in the Lone Star State.