EDINBURGH — Edinburgh tallied seven hits to Hauser’s three, but miscues in the field doomed the Lancers.
Edinburgh committed four errors that led to three Jets runs, and that was the difference in Hauser’s 5-3 Mid-Hoosier Conference baseball win.
“In the first three innings, we had three or four errors, and it eventually cost us late in the game,” Edinburgh coach Jason Burton said. “It’s a learning experience for us because we can’t make these mistakes if we want to beat good baseball teams.”
Aside from the errors, there were solid pitching performances on the mound from Edinburgh’s Zach Murphy and Hauser’s Sam Meek. Murphy gave up only four hits and struck out 10 batters. Meek, on the other hand, gave up seven hits while striking out 11.
“It was a pretty good outing, and all my stuff was working,” Meek said. “The command was good. I hit most of my spots. There were a couple occasions where they made me pay for some mistakes, but we were able to overcome it.”
Burton praised Murphy’s pitching performance.
“He threw the fastball very well, especially late in the game,” Burton said. “His offspeed was hitting spots, as well. Overall, I couldn’t be more happy for him.”
The Jets (3-1, 1-0) had their first baserunner, Sean Miller, in the top of the second inning on a missed catch in the infield. Miller later scored on a Lancers error to take the lead. Hauser later picked up its second run on a throwing error to take the lead.
Edinburgh (2-2, 0-1) set itself up in great position to answer right back. Parker Bryant hit a double, and then a hit-by-pitch and walk loaded the bases. Gabe Wilson hit an RBI-single to send home Bryant to cut the lead to 2-1. The Lancers left all three runners on base from that point forward.
With the score 3-2 heading into the top of the sixth inning, the Jets added a couple of hits that extended the lead to 5-2.
“We put the ball in play and they made a couple errors, which we were able to get a couple of runs off of that,” Hauser coach Nathan Long said. “We made a couple of key hits and a couple of sacrifice flies. We struck out a little too much tonight, but we did put the ball in play when we needed. We played hard, and that was key.”
There was one last rally by the Lancers in the bottom of the seventh. A Jets error put Wilson on first base, and Coltan Henderson then singled. Zach Murphy smacked a double deep to right field that scored one run. Henderson tried to score as well, but was caught in a rundown for the second out. Meek then sealed the game with the final strikeout.
The teams will finish their two-game series at 11 a.m. today at Hauser.
“It’s going to be short memory, but we have a chance to even the series and get things turned around in the right direction,” Burton said.
