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Griffons drop third straight to Bombers
NEVADA, Mo. -- The Nevada Griffons returned home Friday night for the first time in a week as they took on the Sedalia Bombers.
The Griffons came into the night trying to bounce back and avenge two consecutive losses at the hands of the MINK League South Division leading Bombers on Tuesday and Thursday nights. That was not to be, however, as the Bombers took the victory by a final score of 5-3, handing the Griffons their third consecutive loss.
"We had a few big opportunities throughout the course of the game, either first and second or second and third," Griffons head coach Ryan Mannsfield said "But we couldn't seem to get that big hit tonight to catapult us over the top."
Nevada starter Nate Van Bibber came into the game putting his 1-0 record on the line and the Bombers were able to get the bat on the ball right from the start of the game. Travis McComack was able to get on with a leadoff hit, but a double play two batters later quickly erased the runner and allowed Van Bibber to get out with no damage.
The game quickly began to develop the distinct look of a pitcher's duel as both defenses were able to quickly recover after allowing the leadoff hitter to reach. The complexion of the game showed little sign of changing through the early innings as neither team was able to get more than one baserunner in an inning and the two starters continued their dominance on the mound.
The Bombers threatened in the top of the third as they were finally able to find some offense with two one-out hits. Sedalia was ultimately able to turn that offensive spark into a one-run lead when T.S. Reed knocked the third consecutive hit of the inning into center field to drive in McComack from third.
Van Bibber and his defense were able to prevent any further damage, retiring two of the next three hitters to get out of the inning, but not before the Bombers took a 1-0 lead heading to the home half of the third.
The Griffons were finally able to get their first hit of the game in the home half of the fourth inning as Jason Houston hit a leadoff single through the hole between first and second. That was the end of the offense for the inning, however, as the Bombers made a quick recovery to retire the next three Griffons to come to the plate, stranding the third runner of the game for Nevada.
The Bombers added an insurance run to their lead in the top of the fifth as a direct result of a costly mistake by Van Bibber. Kyle Zimmerman came to the plate to lead off the inning and took the first pitch he saw off the back of his left shoulder and eventually came around to score the Bombers' first run of the inning.
Van Bibber's control issues continued through the rest of the inning and that ultimately led to Sedalia adding two more runs to their lead -- one of which came on a wild pitch. By the time all was said and done, the Griffons found themselves coming to bat in the bottom of the fifth trailing by a score of 4-0.
The Griffons offense was finally able to settle in from that point on in the game, keeping the Bombers of the scoreboard for the remainder of the contest. Bryant Rutledge took over on the mound for the Griffons in the seventh and was able to keep the high-powered Bomber offense from doing any more damage.
Designated hitter John Lee was finally able to get the Griffons on the board in the seventh inning as he hit a two-run home run over the head of Bombers right fielder John Wegener to cut the lead in half.
That was the end of the offense for the Griffons in the frame, but not the end of the drama as third baseman Clint Vest was ejected from the game after arguing a called third strike that brought the inning to a close.
"John Lee had a pretty good swing at a changeup up in the zone," Mannsfield said."I thought we were going to have a chance to come back late and hopefully put some more on but we were just not able to do that tonight."
The Bombers threatened to open their lead back up in the eighth as they were able to load the bases with just one out, but Rutledge was able to keep his composure, striking out the next two batters to end the inning and keep the score steady at 4-2.
The Griffons were able to cut that lead in half in the bottom of the eighth inning on an RBI sacrifice fly to center by Houston, but ultimately fell short, losing the game by a final score of 5-3 after the Bombers added one more run in the game's final frame.
With that loss, the Griffons fall to 9-9 on the year, 8-7 in League play and are set to be in action again tonight as they face the St. Joseph Mustangs.
"Hopefully we can get on a little streak here and catch fire," Mannsfield said.