Saints earn extra-inning win, lose nightcap to draw split with Butler

EL DORADO, Kan. – The Seward County Community College baseball team won a wild first game before dropping game two in a doubleheader split at Butler Community College, 7-5 and 12-5. Seward lost the series to Butler, losing three of four games.

The Saints are 3-13 in the Jayhawk West and 16-23 overall. Seward starts a four-game series at Colby on Thursday.

GAME ONE

Ryan Todd hit a two-run, go-ahead homer and Ashton Creighton pitched three-plus innings of scoreless relief to lift the Saints to a 7-5 win over the Grizzlies in 10 innings.

After Butler tied the game at 5-5 in the bottom of the sixth inning on a two-run homer, the teams went into extra innings, going scoreless until the top of 10th. Then things got interesting.

In the sixth inning with Seward up 5-3 and two outs, a Butler player was hit by a pitch with the Saints maintaining that the player did not attempt to avoid the pitch. Seward lost the argument, Butler had a runner on first and the following batter tied it with a homer.

Fast forward to the 10th inning, Colton Rowan led off the inning for Seward and with two strikes, was hit by a pitch. But this time, the call went the other way. The umpire ruled that Rowan did not attempt to avoid the pitch, was assessed a strike and struck out on the play. After more than a 20-minute discussion, play resumed and from a Seward perspective, justice was served. Brooks Barber singled and Todd followed by homering to left, giving the Saints a 7-5 lead and eventual winning margin.

Creighton was impressive in his first appearance since an elbow injury sidelined him since early February, tossing a one-hitter, striking out two and walking one over 3 2/3 scoreless innings in picking up the win.

Hayden Ramage blasted a three-run homer and Nathan Hopkins added three hits for the Saints.

GAME TWO

Seward defensive miscues led to a Butler, six-run inning and the Saints falling to the Grizzlies, 12-5, in the nightcap and a split of the twinbill.

After Seward scored twice in the top of the fourth inning to knot the game at 3-3, Butler plated six runs to open a 9-3 advantage and eased to the win. Two errors and a passed ball accounted for five of the six runs to be unearned.

Hayden Ramage went 2-for-4 with an RBI and Brooks Barber had a homer for Seward, which could only muster four hits.

Saints starting pitcher Aldo Ostos left after three innings with apparent injury, allowing three runs, two earned runs on two hits and three walks.