Sherman, Texas (May, 23, 2024) – The Sherman Shadowcats dropped game one of a four-game series against the Joplin Outlaws on Thursday night after the game was called due to lightning.
The scoring started in the bottom of the first for the Shadowcats as Anderson Acinger (LSU-Shreveport) notched himself in the record books by hitting an RBI single to left field with the bases loaded to score Jaylan Prince (Texas A&M Texarkana ’21) for the very first hit and RBI in Shadowcats history. Tyson Woodland (Centenary) followed suit with a bases-loaded walk that brought Easton Ford (Redlands College) home. Another walk from Outlaws starter Xavier Fosbenner (Missouri Baptist University), this time to Cayden Earnhart (East Texas Baptist), drove in Gavin Speirs (Howard College) to make it a 3-0 ballgame through the first.
The Outlaws fought right back in the top of the second with two runs of their own. Drake Lee (University of Central Oklahoma) stepped up with runners on second and third and grounded out to the first baseman, but Gabe Russell (Rogers State) came home on the play. Evan Vienhage (University of Central Missouri) came up to bat directly after Lee and hit a high chopper to no man’s land, just left of the mound, to score CJ Cepicky (Northern Illinois University), which made the score 3-2 Shadowcats lead heading to the third.
The Outlaws left three on base over the next two innings before tearing things apart in the top of the fifth. Russell hit a sacrifice fly to right field to tie the game, bringing home Shu Kitagawa (Ibaraki Astro Planets). Then, with the bases loaded, Vienhage was hit by a pitch thrown by Shadowcats reliever Will Farr (Redlands College) to bring Carter Mize (Rocky Mountain Vibes ’23) across to take a 4-3 lead. Andre Jackson followed that by smacking a grand slam out to left field. Vienhage, Lee, and Cepicky were all brought home, making the score 8-3 Outlaws after the top of the fifth.
After a scoreless sixth inning from both sides, the Outlaws tacked on a couple of insurance runs in the top of the seventh. Andre Jackson (West Texas A&M) ripped a two-RBI double, scoring Vienhage and Lee to make the score 10-3 Outlaws.
The Shadowcats scored one run in the bottom of the seventh on an error by the third baseman that put Alex Rangel (Dallas College Brookhaven) on first and brought Ford home, making the score 10-4.
Sherman kept things rolling in the bottom of the eighth, scoring two more runs. The first came from a bases-loaded double play ball by Speirs that scored Jacob Eccles (Southwestern University). The second and final run of the inning came from an RBI single hit by Acinger to bring Prince home. The game was called immediately after the inning ended due to lightning making the final score 10-6.
Lucas Vanlanduit (Pittsburg State) was awarded the win for the Outlaws, going three and a third innings with no runs given up, five strikeouts, and only one hit. Farr was given the loss as he gave up a 6-run inning that gave the Outlaws the lead.
The Sherman Shadowcats will continue their season-opening four-game series against the Outlaws at 7:05 p.m. on Friday, May 23rd.
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