(Atlantic, IA) The Atlantic Trojans took on the Shenandoah Mustangs in a double-header at Trojan Baseball Field. The Trojans came into the games with a record of 1-9 (1-7) looking to add a couple of games to the win column. The Mustangs came into the night with a record of 7-7 (2-6) winning three of their last four games.
Jack Muller started on the mound for the Trojans making it his third start of the season. The sophomore found himself in a jam early allowing back-to-back singles putting runners on the corners. However, Muller proceeded to get a strikeout and a pop fly to escape the first inning. The second inning started similarly for the left-handed pitcher, giving up a single and a walk to the six and seven batters. A sacrifice bunt by Dalton Athem moved the runners over to second and third, and a base hit to right field followed scoring two runs. Shenandoah added another run giving the Mustangs a 3-0 lead after the top half of the second.
The Trojans struck back in the bottom of the third with Zayden Parker reaching on a walk and coming all the way around to score. After a couple of scoreless innings, the Mustangs scored five runs in the top of the sixth giving them the lead 8-1 and ultimately winning the first game with a final score of 8-3.
Despite the tough first loss, head baseball coach Nathan Block was happy with the pitching and felt the score was closer than the scoreboard showed.
The first pitch of the second game was thrown around 8:25 p.m. and Shenandoah got ahead early. The Mustangs currently rank second in the Hawkeye 10 in batting average as a team hitting .284 on the year so far and it showed. Tyler Babe got things started in the top of the first inning for Shenandoah getting a lead-off single. Another single followed two at bats later putting runners on the corners. Camden Lorimor came up to the plate and hit a hard ground ball to Collin Harris who let it skip by him, allowing both runs to cross for the Mustangs. They didn’t stop there as Cole Graham reached on a walk and was eventually driven in with a two out single to left field by Athem, driving in two and putting Shenandoah up 4-0 after the first half.
The Trojans battled back scoring three in the bottom of the first with two walks and three base hits in a row by Xavier Darrow, Gavin McLaren and Keston Schmitt, to put Atlantic back one heading into the second inning.
However, things only got worse for the Trojans as they gave up five runs one hit in the second inning, and six runs on four hits in the top of the third, putting the Mustangs up 15-3 through three innings. Shenandoah added to their lead with two more runs in the top of the fifth giving them a 14 run lead and a final score of 17-3 in five innings.
The Trojans were held to just one hit after the three hit first inning. Block says his team is getting better at-bats but struggling to find gaps in the field.
Atlantic drops to a record of 1-11 overall on the season with hitting woes and struggles on the defensive side of the ball. However, one of the upsides for the Trojans in upcoming years is the youth, with all but one player returning for next season. Block says they aren’t where they want to be, but wants his guys to keep working hard.
Atlantic will play Denison Schleswig on Thursday at home starting at 7:30.
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