SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Drury takes games two and three from William Jewell on Saturday to clinch the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) opening weekend series.
GAME ONE, 1-0 Drury
In the rubber match of the series,
Nick Gales and Charlie Rambo squared off in a tight game.
Both the Panthers and Cardinals struggled to get runners on early, with a combined two runners reaching scoring position in the first four and a half innings.
The Panthers' offense finally got some movement after a lead-off strikeout from
Gabe Russell resulted in a passed ball that put him on first. He would then advance to second on a wild pitch.
Connor Bain would give Drury the only run of game one with a double down the left-field line to score Russell.
Bain would steal third a few pitches later for his 33rd career stolen base, moving him to 11th all-time in Drury history.
Four Panthers got base hits in the game.
Nick Gales went the complete game for the second time this season. Gales struck out nine only giving up two hits.
GAME TWO, 6-5 Drury
The offenses woke up for game three of the series scoring a combined seven runs in the first two innings. A two-RBI single gave Jewell an early 2-0 lead.
The Panthers responded to that 2-0 deficit with four of their own in the bottom of the first.
Gabe Russell,
Connor Bain, and
Cannon Stuckey all recorded RBIs in that push.
A passed ball scored one for the Cardinals in the second before the offenses went quiet until the fifth.
With another Jewell run scoring in the fifth, the game was knotted at four. In the bottom half of the fifth,
Gabe Russell would reach the paths via a walk, two batters later
Hesston Gray would hit a towering fly ball that was dropped by the right fielder allowing Russell to score and regain the Drury lead.
After a steal of second,
Landon Willbrand would look to steal third. The Jewell pitcher would throw it away allowing Willbrand to score on the error.
The Cardinals would get a seventh-inning run to make it a one-run game, but
Brady Childs shut that down with a four-out save.
Drury only had four hits on the game from
Connor Bain,
Cannon Stuckey,
Paul Pratte, and Willbrand.
Markell Dixon got the start going 4.2 innings striking out three allowing three earned runs.
Kade Biellier is the pitcher of record after a one-inning bridge between Dixon and Childs.
UP NEXT
Drury will finish the four-game series against Jewell tomorrow at noon.
#WonDrury
