Truman State outfielder T.J. Wood robbed Drury of a game-tying home run with an incredible, game-ending catch to secure a 5-3 victory for the Bulldogs over the Panthers in 10 innings Friday night in the opener of their four-game Great Lakes Valley Conference series at Meador Park.
Trailing 5-3 in the bottom of the 10th after the Bulldogs had struck for two runs off DU reliever
Gage Jacobs (0-1) in the top of the frame, the Panthers began their late rally when
Dallas Williams led off with a double. Wood snagged two fly balls for the first two outs of the inning, but DU junior
Conner Wilson launched what appeared to be a game-tying, two-run blast to right-center.
That was, until Wood raced to the wall, timed his leap perfectly, reached over the fence and brought the ball back into play in his glove for the game's final out, sending his teammates in a sprint to the outfield for a congratulatory dogpile after one of the best catches Meador Park's long and storied history ever has seen.
"Best catch I've ever seen in person ... full arm over the wall," Drury coach
Scott Nasby said. "We didn't lose the game because of the catch. We lost the game because we didn't execute our approach at the plate or on the mound early in the game."
Archived Webcast Of Game (Click Here)The victory pushed the Bulldogs to 21-10 overall and 12-7 in the GLVC while Drury fell to 14-15-1 and 9-9-1.
Truman took a 3-0 lead - after homers by Paul Trenhaile (two-run shot) and Chris Iliopoulis (solo) - into the bottom of the fourth off DU starter
Trevor Richards, but the Panthers tied it up with a
Tyler Arthur solo homer in the fourth and a two-run shot from Williams in the fifth.
It was zeroes from there for both teams until the 10th, when the Bulldogs got to Jacobs for two runs on the strength of three hits and an error.
Richards allowed five hits and three runs in his seven innings of work, striking out six and walking three.
Cody Gardner went nine innings for Truman, surrendering nine hits and three runs to improve to 6-2 on the season, while Peter Young got the save for working the 10th.
Drury outhit the Panthers 10-9, with Williams going 4-for-5 with a run scored and two driven in.
Trenhaile was 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs to lead the Bulldogs.
Drury and Truman will play a pair of seven-inning games starting at 1 p.m. Saturday at Meador before completing the series with a single nine-inning contest Sunday at noon. The games can be seen live through a webcast at drurypanthers.com/watch.