Bat Cats & Tigers Split Conference Doubleheader
MCKENZIE, Tenn. – The Bethel Wildcat baseball squad and the visiting Georgetown Tigers not only battled each other but they both fought cold temperatures which remained in the 30's throughout their doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Wildcat Park in the Kahlden Complex.
The cold weather did not bother Bethel's Marco Santa. The right-hander pitched a two-hit shutout that enabled the Cats to take game one 5-0.
The Wildcats scored two runs in the first two innings of the game. Jose Olmeda scored on a passed ball and the Ivan Vega drove in the second run of the first inning. JT Morgan made it 4-0 in the second inning with a two-run homer. Jacob Foster had an RBI single in the fourth to push Bethel's margin to 5-0. The Wildcats had eight hits in the game. Olmeda had two hits and scored two runs. Santa picked up his second win of the year and has given up just one earned run in 14 innings on the season.
Bethel took a 2-0 lead in game two scoring both runs in the bottom of the third. Foster had a sacrifice fly to give the Cats a 1-0 lead. Luis Aristud drew a bases loaded walk to make it 2-0. GC's Max Flock hit a homer in the top of the fourth to cut the Cat lead to 2-1. The Tigers scored two runs in the sixth to grab a 3-2 lead and then followed with a single run in the eight and three more in the ninth. GC earned the split with a 7-2 win. Georgetown outhit the Wildcats 10-8. Wyatt McKee suffered the Bethel loss.
Coach Rusty Thompson was pleased with the effort of his team. " We are very happy with our team today. We are still learning and trying to get better each week. Marco did great and we are very happy for him, but we don't want to overlook how well the other three guys threw." Thompson added, "I liked our at bats today but there's always room for improvement. Defensively we played well until the last couple of innings in the second game. Our style of play is fast, and we are learning that style, so learning aggressive running is an issue but one we think will make us better as the year goes along. Obviously, you want to win every game, but we split and have an opportunity to take the series from a very good team tomorrow."
Bethel finished the day at 3-5 and 1-1. The Tigers moved to 7-3 and 1-1.
The teams wrap the weekend series Sunday at 12:30 p.m.
Live stats:
https://bethel.prestosports.com/sports/bsb/2021-22/boxscores/20220227_doly.xml
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