Getting Even
Texarkana College salvages split with Temple College
By: Johnny Green - Texarkana Gazette - Published: 02/08/2009
Texarkana College’s Trey Buck slides into home during a doubleheader against Temple College Saturday at George Dobson Field.
Texarkana College took advantage of opportunities it missed in the first game and ended Temple College’s 7-game winning streak with a 13-4 rout in the nightcap of a Saturday doubleheader at George Dobson Field that ushered in the start of the season for the Bulldogs.
TC led unbeaten Temple College off the hook in the early stages of the 7-inning opener, falling 5-3, before finally getting the bats going in the 9-inning second game.
“Our execution wasn’t there in the first game,” said TC coach Will Bolt. “They made three errors in the game, and we had them on the ropes. If we execute our offense we had a chance to have a couple of big innings, but we don’t get a bunt down, and we miss a hit-and-run sign and get thrown out by four steps. We just didn’t get it done offensively in the first game.”
The nightcap was a different story. The Bulldogs took advantage of seven walks by cracking out 10 hits, including four home runs to back Zach Fowler’s strong 6-inning stint.
“Zach kind of set the tone in the second game,” Bolt said. “We’re still trying to find it offensively in the first three innings without a hit, but Zach matched our zeros to give us a chance. He pitched really well, but I thought he got a little tired at the end.
“I was very encouraged by the way we played defense (no errors) for the first time out. Pitching and defense is going to win any day, and the hitting is going to come around. It was good to see the way we faced adversity in the first game and responded in the second.”
TC returns to Dobson today for a 2 p.m. twin bill with Eastern Oklahoma. Tanner Bailey and John Stilson will be the starting pitchers.
Temple 5, Texarkana 3
Temple snapped a 3-all tie with a pair of runs off reliever Colton Reavis in the sixth inning. One-out singles by Pedro Maldonado and Doug Oney, this one a perfect bunt to the left of the mound, and a passed ball put runners at second and third.
Darren Crabtree’s hard ground-out to first base drove in the tie-breaking run, and Oney scored on a wild pitch before Reavis picked up his second strikeout to end the inning.
Early home runs by Thad Zantec and Crabtree in the first two innings staked the Leopards to a 3-0 lead before TC tied it in the third.
Trey Buck singled to left to open the inning and was off and running when Austin Atwell smashed a double to the gap in right-center chasing Buck home. One out later, Joaquin Hinojosa singled, putting runners at the corners. Atwell scored on David Allday’s groundout to third base, and Hinojosa brought home the tying run when the Temple shortstop booted Lance Marvel’s ground ball for his second error of the game.
Justin Fowler overcame a rocky start to go five innings for the Bulldogs, allowing seven hits, striking out four and walking one while throwing 85 pitches. Ty Moore pitched a scoreless seventh for the Bulldogs.
“I thought Justin kept us in the game and gave us a chance to win,” Bolt said. “He got stronger as the game progressed.”
Texarkana managed only five hits off Paul Spinn, who went the distance on the mound, fanning four and walking three. Watson was the lone Bulldog with two hits, while Atwell’s double was the only extra-base hit.
Maldonado was 3 for 3 with a double for the Leopards.
Texarkana 13, Temple 4
Hinojosa’s 2-run homer to right center broke a scoreless deadlock in the fourth inning, and after Ryan Meade’s solo shot made it 2-1 in the fifth, the Bulldogs put it away by scoring eight runs over the next two innings.
TC took advantage of four walks by reliever Stevie Kirks to score five times in the fifth, then got a leadoff homer from Allday and a 2-run shot by Watson in the sixth to make it 10-2. Bucks 3-run blast put the final three runs on the board in the eighth.
Zach Fowler threw 82 pitches over six innings, walking five and fanning four. He gave up just three hits. Shane Cole and Justin Fielden pitched a scoreless inning each before Brittan Diamond yielded two harmless runs in the ninth.
“All three of my pitches were working, and I thought I threw pretty well,” Fowler said. “I’m a ton stronger than last year, and when I get my arm in shape I should be able to go deeper into games.”
Buck and Allday added singles to their homers, and Brian Ellis doubled and singled to lead the Bulldogs’ assault. Meade and Ryan De La Rosa had two hits each for Temple
GAME 1
Temple College 210 002 0 — 5 11 3
Texarkana College 003 000 0 — 3 5 0
Paul Spinn and Doug Oney. Justin Fowler, Colton Reavis (6), Ty Moore (7) and Jordy Snikeris. WP-Spinn. LP-Reavis (0-1). HR: Temple-Thad Zantec, 1st, 1 on; Darren Crabtree, 2nd, none on.
GAME 2
Temple College 000 011 002 — 4 7 2
Texarkana College 000 253 03x — 13 10 0
Jake Bidelman, Stevie Kirks (4), Garrett Sladek (5), Russell Johns (6), Troy Green (6), Justin Williams (8) and Garrett Rayburn. Zach Fowler, Shane Cole (7), Justin Fielden (8), Brittan Diamond (9) and Lance Marvel. WP-Fowler (1-0). LP-Bidleman. HR: Tex-Joaquin Hinojosa, 4th, 1 on; David Allday, 6th, none on; Thomas Watson, 6th, 1 on.
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