Grace Baseball misses chances to beat SAU
SPRING ARBOR, Mich. – Grace’s baseball team could not convert on its chances in a 4-2 defeat at Spring Arbor on Saturday.
The day originally called for a doubleheader at SAU, but poor field conditions resulted in Saturday being a single 9-inning affair instead.
The Lancers equalled the Cougars on hits (9-9) and even had one fewer error (2-1), but Grace could only turn its nine hits into two runs. The Cougars led early and held on late for the win.
The Cougars (9-18, 2-5 Crossroads League) scored a single run in the first, second and third innings.
The Lancers (7-7, 3-4 CL) were unable to produce a threatening inning during the first three frames, but Grace’s bats soon warmed.
Houston Haney had a leadoff double in the fourth inning that did not convert to a run, and Grace had two base hits in the fifth that also came up empty.
In the top of the eighth, Grace got on the scoreboard. Hunter Ackerman doubled to put two runners in scoring position, and Mitchell Enyart produced a two-out, two-run single to the outfield to chop SAU’s lead in half 4-2.
But the Lancers could only generate one more single from RJ Snyder for the rest of the contest to fall by two.
Altogether Grace left 10 baserunners stranded in the game compared to just five for the Cougars.
The freshman duo of Jacob Sapp and Sam Newkirk both hit 2-for-4, and Haney hit 2-of-5. Ackerman was 1-for-4 with a run, and Enyart finished 1-for-4 with two RBIs.
Josh Tew tossed the first 6.2 innings, yielding eight hits and four runs with five strikeouts. Ike Peterson threw the last 1.1 innings and only surrendered one hit in relief.
The Lancers will end the series at Spring Arbor on Monday.