Sturm's Ejection Ignites Tigers
5/25/08
In the middle game of the Memorial Day weekend homestand for the Tigers, it was the ejection of a key slugger that lit a fire for the Springfield offense, as they bashed sixteen hits en route to a 12-2 victory over the Stark Longhorns.
Brandon Wilhelmi took to hill for Springfield. He allowed a run on two hits in the top of the first inning, but then proceeded to shutdown the Stark offense, allowing just three hits after the first frame.
The Tigers got on the board in the second. Matt Tews continued his hot hitting as he started things with a double. Dave Groebner followed with a single, moving Tews to third. Bob Fink tied the game with a sacrifice fly to rightfield.
Springfield gained the lead in their half of the third when Ryan Sturm got a one-out single. Groebner and Fink followed with singles of their own. Fink got his second RBI of the night driving in Sturm to make the score 2-1.
Wilhelmi helped himself out when he tripled in the fourth and came in to score on a wild pitch, pushing the lead to 3-1. In the top of the fifth, Tiger first baseman, Sturm was ejected from the game after a controversial call on a play at first base.
After losing their clean-up hitter, the Tiger bats erupted for five hits and five runs in the bottom of the inning. Tews, Andy Moritz, Adam Beers, and Brady Schwab all had singles. Matt Baier added a double to provide the firepower for the inning. The score stood at 8-1 after five innings.
The was no scoring in the sixth or seventh. Bryant Krebs made his Tiger mound debut and allowed one unearned run in the top of the eighth before Jesse Berg came in to end the inning.
The Tigers batted around in the bottom of the eighth, getting doubles from Wilhelmi, Krebs, and another single from Andy Moritz. Berg also ended the bottom of the eighth, and the game by the ten-run rule, when he drew a bases-loaded walk to score Brent Haseleu from third, making the final 12-2.
Brandon Wilhelmi picked up his second win in as many starts. Springfield will close out the weekend with a matinee battle against the Gibbon Reds tomorrow afternoon at 2pm. Come down and enjoy some Memorial Day baseball at Riverside Park!
Linescore
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | LOB | |
| Stark | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | X | 2 | 5 | 2 | 12 |
| Springfield | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 4 | X | 12 | 16 | 3 | 16 |
Springfield Box
| AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | |||
| Wilhelmi, P/SS | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2B, 3B | |
| Baier, CF/3B | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2B | |
| Schwab, 2B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | HP | |
| Haseleu, PR/2B | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| R. Sturm, 1B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| Krebs, CF/P | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2B | |
| Tews, SS/CF/1B | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2B, HP | |
| Groebner, DH | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Berg, 3B/1B/P | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Fink, RF | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | SAC, HP | |
| Brandl, RF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||
| A. Moritz, C | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | ||
| C. Moritz, CR | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Beers, LF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | ||
| 40 | 12 | 16 | 10 | 7 | 10 | |||
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | |||
| Wilhelmi (W, 2-1) | 7 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 7 | ||
| Krebs | 2/3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | ||
| Berg | 1/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
Pictures
