Baseball Picks Up First Win of the Season

(Salina, KS) – The Hastings Broncos picked up their first win of the season on Thursday against St. Ambrose, 5-3, giving head coach Steve Maddock his first win with Hastings.

No scoring occurred until the fifth inning as junior pitcher Markus Miller allowed just two hits in the first four innings, while St. Ambrose had similar numbers on their pitching side through four innings.

In the top of the fifth inning, freshman Eddie Henchek and sophomore Jared Delgado opened the inning with singles. Senior Elijah Merritt loaded the bases with nobody out, then junior Jace Valdez put the ball in play to score the first run on a groundout.

Junior Jake Poris ripped a double down the right field line that scored two runs to put the Broncos up 3-0 and after a strikeout, junior Jaden Stone drove in Poris with a two-out RBI single to right to make it a four-run inning.

The Fighting Bees inched back in the bottom half of the inning by getting two walks and advancing to second and third on the sac bunt. They scored two runs on a single to left field, but Miller got the next two batters to hit into outs, keeping it a 4-2 lead to the sixth.

Merritt and Stone each hit doubles in the sixth and seventh innings but St. Ambrose was able to keep the Broncos off the board. Miller ended up going six innings and striking out five, while only giving up two runs on four hits and two walks on 79 pitches.

Senior Jaden Jurgensmier came out of the bullpen to pitch the last three innings. In the seventh and eighth innings, he allowed one walk, but struck out the other three batters in the seventh and then retired two of the three batters in the eighth via strikeout.

Stone provided an insurance run in the ninth with a two-out, solo homer to right center to put Hastings up, 5-2.

With one out in the bottom of the ninth, the Fighting Bees were the beneficiary of a throwing error by the Broncos that put a runner on second. After a flyout, St. Ambrose scored a run after a second Bronco throwing error in the inning allowed the Fighting Bees to stay alive. With a runner on first and two out, Jurgensmier got the final batter to foul out to first to secure the 5-3 victory.

Jurgensmier ended his relief appearance with five strikeouts in three innings, allowing one unearned run and one walk to collect the save. Stone had a great day at the plate, going 4-5, driving in two runs, and scoring one himself on the homer. Delgado (three hits) and Merritt (two hits) each recorded multi-hit games, while Poris was 1-4 with two RBIs and a run scored.

Hastings will continue their games in Salina with a game against Clarke at 12pm tomorrow, followed by Kansas Wesleyan at 3:30pm.