HOPE — Hauser turned opportunity into offense and came away with a victory Thursday evening, holding off Edinburgh 5-2 in baseball action.
The Jets registered just a trio of hits but cashed in on nearly a dozen walks and a pair of miscues to push their overall season mark to 13-7 and stay alive in Mid-Hoosier Conference play with a 5-1 slate. The Lancers (7-11, 3-5) managed one more hit than the hosts but failed to produce enough big plays to overcome an early 4-0 deficit.
With Edinburgh hurler Kyle Armel struggling to find consistency out of the gate, Hauser took full advantage and plated two runs in the bottom of the first inning and another pair of runs in the second. The guests finally answered with a pair of runs in the sixth, but Hauser took back the momentum to register its final run in the bottom of the sixth and set the Lancers down in order to close out the win.
“Every time we play Edinburgh, it turns out to be a good game,” Jets coach Jerry Schoen said. “I would have liked to have seen more hits for us, but we did some good things on offense and played really well defensively.”
Senior pitcher Rory Thayer recorded the win for Hauser and turned in five impressive innings before running out of gas and into a bit of trouble in the sixth. Thayer, who struck out nine Edinburgh batters, also was busy on offense as he scored twice, stole a pair of bases and recorded two of the Jets’ three hits.
Teammate Will Rose came on in relief of Thayer with two out in the sixth and immediately slammed the door shut by striking out Edinburgh’s Doug Scrogham. He maintained that aggressiveness on the mound in the seventh to earn the save and also finished with an RBI.
“Rory has done a great job for us this season,” Schoen said. “We’ve asked him to do a lot for us, and he’s responded well.”
Edinburgh did its damage with two outs and after Kevin Johnson slapped a base hit. He moved to second on a throwing error by the Jets and scored moments later on an Eric Cravens single. Pinch-runner Elliott Parmer then brought in the second run after Blake Fisher drew a bases-loaded walk.
“We had a couple of early mistakes or it could have been a different outcome,” Edinburgh coach Cole Zook said. “Hauser is a great team, and we got better today from playing them.”
Like Thayer, Brooks Bailey also scored twice for the Jets, each time after garnering a walk. The fleet-footed shortstop also had three stolen bases, which enabled him to get into early scoring position.
Bailey plated the team’s first run after an attempted pickoff throw at third base got away. He returned in the second inning along with Thayer, and both scored after Nate Branum sliced the team’s first hit up the middle. Eric McMullen scored the Jets’ final run.
