What started as a pitching duel early quickly turned to a shootout as the Bee Jays fall to the Colorado Rough Riders, 10-5. Two scoreless innings gave way to one run by each side in the third inning and after five complete innings it was 1-1 heading into the sixth inning. Bee Jays’ starter, Alex Lora, pitched five complete innings giving up that lone run on three hits, four walks and three strikeouts.
Photo by DeeDee Luebbers
It was the sixth inning that proved too much for the Bee Jays as they gave up 5 runs on defense and were unable to get anything going on offense. They would trail 6-1 until the seventh when Drew Grego would send a solo shot over the left field fence, but the Rough Riders would retire two of the next three batters to maintain a 6-2 lead entering the eighth inning.
The bats caught fire after that with the Rough Riders adding four runs of their own in the eighth extending their lead to 10-2. The Bee Jays would find their rhythm on offense in the eighth as well adding three runs on three solo homeruns in four batters. Designated hitter, Carson Willis got the party started when he took a 1-0 pitch to deep left center. Following a strikeout Jack Ryan and Kyle Sandner would hit back-to-back homers of their own before the Rough Riders retired the next two batters.
In the top of the ninth with momentum on their side the Bee Jays retired three of the first four batters getting out of the top of the ninth unscaled. The 10-5 deficit would stand as the Rough Riders were able to retire three of the four batters in the heart of the Bee Jay lineup to walk away with the win. The Bee Jays pitching gave up those 10 runs on 11 hits and six walks while hitting three batters and adding only seven strikeouts. Defensively, the Bee Jays committed two critical errors while the Rough Riders committed none in the nine innings.
The Bee Jays move to 6-4 on the season and 5-4 in the Rocky Mountain Baseball League; the Rough Riders move to 3-6 on this young season. The two teams will square off three more times before the Rough Riders leave Liberal starting with game two in this four game series Friday at 7 p.m. at Brent Gould Field. That game airs on KSCB 1270 AM and 92.3 FM. State Farm agent Crystal Kinsinger is the buyout sponsor for the Friday game.