Fairfield Lions roar past Mustangs in SHAC opener
Tuesday night was a wet and rainy game for the Southern Hills Athletic Conference opener between the Fairfield Lions and Lynchburg-Clay Mustangs with the conference showdown being called after six innings, leaving the visiting Lions as the victors.
Fairfield outlasted the host Mustangs by a 4-2 score by scoring one run in the top of the second, then adding two runs in the third and one last run in the fourth inning giving them four runs in a span of three innings.
The Mustangs scored their two runs in the fifth and sixth innings, but the rain didn’t hold off and they never got their opportunity to complete the final inning.
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“This was a great team effort tonight,” Fairfield head coach Jeremy McGraw said. “We played the last two innings in the rain and got a little sloppy, but our guys made plays when we needed them. Sam (Buddelmeyer) and Austin (Setty) did a nice job on the mound for us. They had to battle the last two innings with a pretty steady rain and did a good job of throwing strikes and letting our defense field it.”
Buddelmeyer was the winning pitcher for the Lions, pitching five innings as the starter. He finished allowing one run (earned) on four hits and three walks. Buddelmeyer finished with three strikeouts.
Setty pitched one inning of relief for the save. Setty allowed one run (earned) on two hits and one walk.
Even with the stellar pitching by both Buddelmeyer and Setty, timely hitting stood out for the Lions too. Fairfield totaled five hits for the game but were clutch when they needed to be in the third through fifth innings.
“The difference tonight was coming up with some timely hitting,” McGraw said. “Cody Gragg was huge for us with a two-out, two-RBI triple in the third inning.
“Tanner Collins had a big sacrifice bunt in the fourth to move Wyatt Willey, who later scored when Austin Setty (with two strikes) put the ball in play to the right side. It was the small things we did well. Credit to Lynchburg, because we did struggle with our hitting as their pitchers did a nice job of keeping us off-balanced.”
Buddelmeyer and Gragg each led the Lions at the plate with 2-for-3 days, with Buddelmeyer scoring one run and drawing one walk. Gragg scored one run, but also recorded two RBI.
Also with a hit was Griffin Irvin (1-for-2, one RBI, one walk). In all the Lions forced nine walks in the win, with Willey and Layne Morgan each having two. Setty, Matthew Spears, Andrew Dingey, Buddelmeyer and Irvin each had one walk.
Spears, Buddelmeyer, Gragg and Willey scored the runs for the visiting Lions.
The Mustangs were led at the plate by Bryce Davis, Blake Croy, Josh Wolfe and Damin Pierson with one hit each. Wolfe also had an RBI, while Pierson scored one run. Also for the Mustangs, Drew Pitzer forced one walk and score a run.
On the mound, the loss was charged to Pitzer. He pitched three innings, allowing one hit and walked five batters. He also finished with three strikeouts. Caden Hess pitched for LC as well, also pitching three innings. Hess allowed one hit and walked three batters, finishing with five strikeouts.
“We will look to get things moving in the right direction while getting to play eight games in eight days (four of which are league games), starting this Saturday with a doubleheader at Western Brown,” LC head coach Vince Pitzer said.