April 21, 2009
The previous long was a 13-inning contest with Washburn University on March 28, 1993, but the Bulldogs (10-37) had to climb out of a deep hole in order to get there, as the visiting Blue Tigers (12-26) jumped all over Truman starter Logan Frame to the tune of six runs in 2.1 innings. LU continued its assault – picking up a run on Corey Tomasek in his 1.2 innings of work and another three off Christian Witt in the top of the fifth – until the Truman bullpen entered lockdown mode for the rest of the game.
When Tyler Stefan entered and picked up the last two outs of the fifth, the Bulldogs grabbed three runs back in its half of the fifth – headlined by senior Corey Eagen reaching first on a hit-by-pitch, stealing second, swiping third when Kenny Swanson drew a walk, then stealing home on a delayed double-steal.
With Stefan continuing to baffle the Blue Tiger hitters, the Bulldogs continued to chip away, scoring one in the seventh before rattling off a big eighth inning. With one out and the bases loaded, catcher Bryce Bond smoked a pitch deep into the left-field corner to score all three runs and cut the deficit to 10-8. After a strikeout and a single put runners on first and third, the Bulldogs closed to within one on a wild pitch that also allowed pinch-runner Kody Stricklin to advance to third.
Then, on a 3-1 count, Eagen blasted a double to the right-center field fence to tie the game before being thrown out trying to advance to third.
Both teams had their chances to win it before the 15th, as
With one out in the 15th, Kevin Zukaitis reached on an error by
The ’Dogs completed their comeback just one pitch later, as Devon Myers singled to right center and gave Truman its tenth-straight unanswered run in picking up the 11-10 win.
Only Swanson tallied more than two hits for the Bulldogs, as he went 3-for-7 in the leadoff spot. The ’Dogs used a balanced offense (13 walks) with aggressiveness on the basepaths (seven stolen bases) to take advantage of all opportunities granted by the LU defense. In addition, five Blue Tiger errors led to three unearned runs – including the game-winner – for the purple and white.
After giving up 10 runs through the first four and a third innings, the Bulldog bullpen was nearly flawless the rest of the way – giving up just five hits and three walks, while striking out 11 over the final 10.2 innings. Stefan (5.2 IP, 2 H, 2 BB, 8 SO) was joined in the effort by Michael Staihr (3 IP, 2 H, 1 BB, 3 SO) and the game’s winner, Jake Smith (2.0 IP, 1 H). Smith improved to 2-1 on the season.
For the game, Truman struck out 16 Blue Tiger hitters and didn’t commit an error on 45 total put-outs. 534 total pitches were thrown in the game, which lasted four hours and 35 minutes.
Truman will hit the road for a four-game set at