Weatherford, Oklahoma — In the first game of a four-game series against Southwestern Oklahoma State University, the Grizzlies fell by a final score of 13-10. The loss by the Grizzlies drops them to a record of 1-4 early on the season.
The story of today's game was the number of free passes the Grizzlies gave up that allowed the SWOSU offense to start strong early on in game one. With 13 free passes in the game, the Grizzlies consistently gave SWOSU chances to score runs which they took advantage of consistently leading to their 13 runs. In the third inning of today's game when the Grizzlies allowed 8 runs, 4 of the 8 runs were walks or hit batters by the Grizzlies. With the consistent traffic the Grizzlies faced it was tough sledding all day.
Although the pitching staff of the Grizzlies struggled today, the Grizzly offense was able to pick up their pitchers by scoring 10 runs and bringing today's game all down to the final out in the ninth inning when the Grizzlies had the tying run at the play in Ayden Tauscher. Unfortunately for the Grizzlies they fell just short, but with 13 hits, and 21 total base runners they were able to erase a 10-run lead to just 3 runs going into the final inning of today's game.
The Grizzly offense was helped today by 4 zeros from Daniel Hoodak and Osaias Hinojosa who were the only two Grizzly pitchers who were able to have consistent success in today's game. The starter for the Grizzlies, Joseph Marek struggled only going 2 ⅓ innings, giving up 4 hits, 3 walks, and 7 runs. Following Marek was Ethan Bertke and Connor Kerns who went 1 ⅔ innings giving up 5 hits, 5 runs, and 4 walks. Hoodak and Hinojosa closed the game out with 4 shutout innings, collecting 4 strikeouts and only allowing 2 hits.
Offensively for the Grizzlies they had multiple bright spots with Christian Altamirano, Tauscher, Josh Parks, and Isaiah Pruitt all collecting multiple hits. Altamirano, Tauscher, and Parks all collected 2 hits, while Pruitt finished the day with the team lead in hits with 3. For Altamirano he collected an RBI, and scored 2 runs. For Tauscher, he finished with 2 RBIs and a double, while Parks finished with 1 run scored, 2 walks, and 3 RBIs to have an all-around great day. Lastly, Pruitt did an outstanding job turning the lineup for the Grizzlies finishing the day 3 for 4 with a walk, and scoring 1 run on the day. The Grizzlies will look to continue this strong offense as they look to bounce back tomorrow in Saturday's doubleheader to get on a roll as the early season rolls on.
Tomorrow's games will again be against Southwestern Oklahoma State University here in Weatherford, Oklahoma as the Grizzlies will continue their four-game series. The first game tomorrow will begin at 11 AM MST, with the second game of the doubleheader coming directly following the completion of the first game. Follow along tomorrow on SWOSU's live stream as the Grizzlies look to bounce back and win two games in Saturday's doubleheader.
