Jimmies baseball lose 3-2 to Mount Marty in GPAC Tourney

CRETE, Neb. — The University of Jamestown left the bases loaded in the eighth inning and that cost them as they lost 3-2 to Mount Marty in the first game of the GPAC tournament on Thursday, May 4, at the Doane Ballfield Complex.

The Lancers (36-13, 19-9) got out to a quick 1-0 lead in the second before the Jimmies responded with runs in the third and the fourth to take a 2-1 lead. The Lancers tied the game up in the fifth when Braeden Cordes hit a single through the left side to score a run and tie the game up at 2-2.

The Jimmies’ starter Luke Zimmer was taken out after giving up a single to open the eighth finishing his day with seven innings pitched, six strikeouts and he was responsible for the runner on first. The Jimmies brought in Hayden Brown who struck out the first batter he faced before giving up a walk and then a run-scoring single to give the Lancers the 3-2 lead.

The Jimmies (27-18, 16-10) struggled to hit with runners in scoring position in the loss as they went 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position including having second and third with two outs in the eighth inning. The Lancers also struggled as they went 2-for-11 with runners in scoring position. The Lancers starter Chris Rofe went seven innings giving up two runs on eight hits and striking out seven hitters.

“We played really good baseball today but the one thing we didn’t do was hit with runners in scoring position,” Jimmies head coach Tom Hager said. “I’m really proud of my team’s effort. I’m proud of the way we played the game. We just didn’t execute with runners in scoring position and you gotta give Mount Marty some credit they made some big pitches when they needed to.”

The Jimmies try to save their season at noon on Friday, May 5, when they take on the loser of the game between Briar Cliff and Doane.

“The first thing we need to do tomorrow is be ready to play from the first pitch and then we’ve got to do a better job of putting the ball in play with runners in scoring position,” Hager said. “We’ve got to win two baseball games tomorrow and we’ve done that in tournaments before. It’s going to be a challenge but this is something that we can do.”

UJ 2, MMU 3

UJ: 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0–2 11 2

MMU: 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 X–3 6 0

WP: Zach Hegge (3-0) , LP: Luke Zimmer (8-2)

Scoring plays:

Second inning:

MMU: Will Gardner sacrifice groundout, Zane Salley scores

Third inning:

UJ: Xander Orejudos RBI single, Chase Burke scores

Fourth inning:

UJ: Julian Sansores sacrifice fly, Jordan Singleton scores

Fifth inning:

MMU: Braeden Cordes single, Gardner scores, unearned

Eighth inning:

MMU: Bodi Wallar RBI double, Cordes scores