Despite Five Run Ninth, Tigers Fall in Hanska
5/31/09
Springfield traveled to Hanska on Sunday afternoon to take on the Lakers in a rare 4:30pm start. The Lakers built a 7-2 lead, but Springfield battled back to tie it in the ninth, before Hanska got a run to win it in their final at-bat. A highlight for the visitors was a home run from Jordan Milbrath on the first pitch he saw in his amateur baseball career, sparking the Springfield rally.
Brandon Wilhelmi made his third start of the year on the mound. The Laker offense was relentless, never being retired in order all day. Hanska got on the board early with two hits and a run in the bottom of the first. They added to their lead in the second with a triple and another run.
With Hanska on top 2-0, Springfield got a one-out single from Brady Schwab in the top of the fourth. Chris Sturm followed with a walk. Marc Salazar continued his hot hitting with a run scoring single, cutting the Laker lead in half. A fielder's choice left the Tigers with runners at first and third and two outs. Then Springfield executed a double-steal to tie the game at two.
The scored stayed knotted at two until the bottom of the fifth, when Chris Peters hit a solo home run to right field. Peters had a big day at the plate with 3 RBIs and coming just a triple short of the cycle. Hanska extended their lead in the sixth, getting two more runs with RBI hits from Dusty Wilfahrt and Peters. The Lakers pushed the score to 7-2 in the seventh with two unearned runs on an RBI double by Wilfahrt.
Springfield was able to get at least one runner on base in every inning from the fifth through the eighth, but were unable to cut into the Laker lead. Finally, in the top of the ninth, Jordan Milbrath took the first pitch he saw and hit it over the left field fence, igniting the Tiger bats. Ryan Sturm was hit by a pitch before Springfield got singles from Matt Baier, Wilhelmi, Chris Sturm, Salazar and Ryan Cook to tie the game at seven all. Milbrath also made his mound debut, but struggled with his control in the bottom of the ninth. Three walks and a Springfield error moved around the running run for Hanska, as they pulled out an 8-7 victory.
Brandon Wilhelmi worked the first seven innings giving up seven runs on ten hits. Jordan Milbrath was tagged with the loss working one inning and allowing five walks. The Tigers' 13 hit offensive attack was led again by Marc Salazar with three hits. Matt Baier, Brady Schwab, and Chris Sturm added two hits each. While Wilhelmi, Ryan Cook, Milbrath, and Ryan Sturm rounded out the Springfield offense contributing one hit each. The Tigers travel to Leavenworth on Wednesday night for a big match-up against the Patriot Division leading Orioles. Game time is scheduled for 8pm. We hope to see you there!
Linescore
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | LOB | |
| Springfield | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 13 | 4 | 9 |
| Hanska | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 10 | 1 | 17 |
Springfield Box
| AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | ||
| Baier, 3B/2B | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | SAC |
| B. Wilhelmi, P/RF | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Schwab, SS | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Haseleu, PR | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| C. Sturm, LF | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2B |
| Salazar, 1B | 5 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Cook, C | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | |
| Krebs, RF | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | |
| Milbrath, P | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | HR |
| Brandl, DH | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Sather, CF | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| Christensen, 2B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| R. Sturm, 3B | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | HP |
| 38 | 7 | 13 | 5 | 3 | 8 | ||
| IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | ||
| Wilhelmi | 7 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 8 | |
| Milbrath (L, 0-1) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 1 |
Pictures
