Delgado wins one, loses late in nightcap at South Central District Tournament

NEW ORLEANS – It was a day of huge highs and the lousy lows for Delgado baseball Friday.

Hosting the South Central District Tournament, the Dolphins rallied from a two-run deficit to overcome Eastern Oklahoma State 4-3 at Kirsch-Rooney Stadium Friday afternoon.

Trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Dolphins sent nine men to the plate as Mikey Stutes homered to make it 3-2 before Hayden Kibbe singled and Cade Pregeant was hit by a pitch.

Jake Fury singled home Kibbe to tie the game 3-3 before a wild pitch scored Pregeant to give the Dolphins a 4-3 lead.

Carson Lore made sure the lead held up, pitching 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, allowing just two hits while striking out four to pick up the win after starter Turner Toms went 5 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on six hits.

The Mountaineers (51-5) had taken the early lead with two runs in the top of the first inning on a single by Isaac Webb, who stole second and scored on an RBI single by Parker Rowland. Keniel DeLeon followed with an RBI double and it was 2-0.

Delgado cut the deficit to 2-1 in the bottom of the first on a walk to Brayden Caskey, who stole second and scored on an RBI single by Stutes.

EOSU made it 3-1 in the top of the fourth on another double by DeLeon and an RBI single by Dalton Patten, setting the stage for the Delgado winning rally.

Starter Easten James, the first of five pitchers for the Mountaineers, absorbed his first loss of the season, going 5 2/3 innings, allowing four runs on six hits.

The loss eliminated Eastern Oklahoma State as the Mountaineers lost in the opener Friday to Crowder College, 6-4.

The final game of the day was another outstanding contest, won by Crowder 5-3 over Delgado.

The Dolphins grabbed the early lead with a run in the top of the first on a single by Ethan Lege, who advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches and scored on an RBI groundout by J.T. Singletary.

Crowder took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning when Jackson Cobb was hit by a pitch and scored on an RBI double by Landrey Wilkerson to tie the game before a wild pitch scored Wilkerson.

It stayed that way until the top of the eighth inning when Delgado rallied to take a 3-2 lead on a walk to Caskey, a single by Lege and a two-run double by Singletary.

The lead was short-lived.

The Roughriders roughed up Delgado closer Kaile Levatino in the bottom of the eighth to steal the win.

Peyton Holt singled before Kenny Diclimente walked. With two outs, Wilkerson doubled home two runs to make it 4-3 before Clayton Gray drove in Wilkerson with an RBI single to make it 5-3.

Conner Floyd struck retired all five batters he faced in relief, striking out four to nail down the victory.

Cody Adcock started for the Roughriders and was dominant in 7 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on just three hits, walking three and striking out seven. Gage Singer was touched for a run on two hits before giving way to Floyd.

Cory Cook started for Delgado, going 3 2/3 innings, allowing two runs on three hits.

Hunter Draper came on and was brilliant, pitching 3 1/3 innings, allowing no runs on just one hit with four strikeouts before Levatino came on in the bottom of the eighth inning.

“We didn’t do the things we needed to do offensively in the second game,” Delgado coach Joe Scheuermann said. “I thought we really got manhandled in the first six, seven innings of the game. Their starter was lights out. We didn’t match up with him well but we kept the game close. Our pitchers did a phenomenal job keeping us in the game.”

Delgado (36-15) must win Saturday at 4 p.m. against Crowder to force a deciding game Sunday. Should the Roughriders win Saturday, they are the champions and advance to the NJCAA World Series in Grand Junction, Colorado for a second straight year.

“They’re in the same boat that we’re in,” Scheuermann said. “We’ve got of fresh arms we did not use. We are certainly capable of coming back.”

FRIDAY’S LINE SCORES

FINAL GAME ONE:
Crowder 202 010 001 6 9 2, 7 LOB
EOSU 004 000 000 4 10 4, 10 LOB
WP—Jacob Misiorowski (10-0)
LP—Nate Ackenhausen (8-1)
SV—Jace Presley (2)
SB—Isaac Webb-2, Drake Kerr, Jonah Cox-2
2B—Parker Rowland, Houston King, Josh Patrick
HR—Gavin Glasgow (4)
Time of Game: 3:02

FINAL GAME TWO
EOSU 200 100 000 3 8 1, 4 LOB
Delgado 100 003 00X 4 9 1, 11 LOB
WP—Carson Lore (8-4)
LP—Easten James (8-1)
SB—Brayden Caskey, Isaac Webb, Austin Albright, Drake Kerr
2B—Josh Alexander, Keniel DeLeon-2, Jonah Cox
HR—Mikey Stutes (4)
Time of Game: 2:31

FINAL GAME THREE
Delgado 100 000 020 3 5 0, 5 LOB
Crowder 000 200 03X 5 8 0, 8 LOB
WP—Conner Floyd (2-2)
LP—Kaile Levatino (6-3)
SB—Chaz Poppy
2B—Kenny Diclemente, Landry Wilkerson-2, J.T. Singletary
Time of Game: 2:31