Baseball 5/6/2012 8:17:00 PM

Lindenwood Pounds Out The Hits In Completing Sweep

Complete Notes (.pdf)
Live Stats (Truman) – Live Stats (Lindenwood)

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. – The Lindenwood Lions hit .377 as a team during the weekend's four-game stretch and used big innings to complete the sweep of the Bulldogs on Sunday by scores of 13-0 and 12-1. It was the first sweep of the Bulldogs in a four-game series this season since early March against Central Missouri.

Game 1 Recap | Box Score
Lindenwood 4, Truman 2
Devon Myers and Zak Larkin each drove in a run but a pair of two run innings in the third and fifth frames lifted the Lions to a 4-2 win. The Bulldogs jumped on top as Steven Rose singled, stole second and went to third on a throwing error and came home on Myers' groundout in the first. A double and single off a Logan Siegler in the third put the Lions on top. Truman tied it on Dan Plecki's double and Larkin's bunt single in the fifth but Siegler could not produce a shutdown inning in the bottom half. Two singles and a sacrifice chased Siegler to bring in Tyler Stefan who gave up a sac fly for one run and an RBI single for insurance.

Game 2 Recap | Box Score
Lindenwood 5, Truman 4
A walk, hit by pitch and an error led to disaster as Mario Parra delivered a grand slam in the seventh as the Lions overcame a 4-1 deficit to win the nightcap 5-4. The Lions took the early lead on a sac fly but Truman scored four times in the sixth to grab the lead. Daniel Jewett singled in Jarod Hahn and Devon Myers for the first two and after a stolen base, Jewett headed home on an RBI single by Steven Rose. Dan Plecki would follow with a double as eight men went to the plate. Tim Lee had allowed just four hits through six innings before walking the leadoff man in the seventh and then hitting the next batter. Chris Allard was summoned and promptly was charged with an error to load the bases. Allard put down the next hitter with a strikeout but Parra stepped in for the big blow.

Game 3 Recap | Box Score
Lindenwood 13, Truman 0

After three scoreless innings, the Lions batted around in the top of the fourth inning and scored four times then sent 17 hitters to the plate in the final two innings to win 13-0. The Bulldogs were held to two hits, one by Jarod Hahn and one by Dan Plecki by starter Dylan Terrell. Truman's Bret Gerstner was tagged with the loss while Terrell struck out four en route to the win.

Game 4 Recap | Box Score
Lindenwood 12, Truman 1

Daniel Jewett hit the first of his two doubles in the second inning but the 'Dogs failed to score after an inning ending double play. Lindenwood rode that momentum in scoring five times in the top of the third and five more times in the sixth to run-rule the Bulldogs 12-1 in seven innings. Eddie Sutton went 3-for-3 with four runs batted in and finished the series hitting .636 (7-of-11). The Lions belted 17 base hits in the game as Paul McMahon took the loss going five innings. Jewett doubled again and scored in the seventh on a fielders choice by Blake Marino.

Series Preview:
The Truman Baseball team will close out the 2012 season with a home and home series with Lindenwood University this weekend. The teams will begin the series on Saturday in St. Charles, Mo. and will then travel to Kirksville for Sunday's doubleheader.

This will be only the second time Truman and Lindenwood will meet on the diamond with the last coming in April of 1994 in which the Lions won 1-0 in Kirksville. The two teams will get reacquainted this weekend and will play another four game series next year when the Lions fully make the transition from the NAIA to Division II and the MIAA.

The Bulldogs will be looking to bounce back after being swept on Saturday by Pittsburg State in a pair of conference games. The Gorillas took the opener 4-1 and rallied in the ninth to win 9-8 in the nightcap. Games three and four of the series were called after a three-hour delay on Sunday due to persistent rain.

Prior to Sunday's game, six seniors will be recognized for their achievements. Pete Jurich, Tyler Stefan, Devon Myers, and Steven Rose are all four-year letterwinners while Dan Plecki and Weston Lewis have transferred in. This group is three wins away from the four-year win record of 59 set by the 1999-2002 Bulldogs.

While Truman will say goodbye to their seniors on Sunday, the future is bright with freshman Jerod Hahn and sophomore Will Nader leading the team in hitting. Hahn is hitting .341 this season with a pair of home runs and 16 runs batted in while Nader has been on a hot streak going 16-of-26 (.615) over the last 10 games.

Sophomore Tim Lee is one win away from becoming just the second Bulldog hurler to win five games in a single season over the past 10 years. Ryan Trimble won five in 2010 while the Truman record for pitching wins in eight set by Jeff Birdsong in 1999. Lee is 4-3 with a 4.58 ERA in five starts and 12 appearances. Three other Bulldogs have three wins, Logan Siegler (3-6, 3.66 ERA), Tyler Stefan (3-6, 5.86 ERA) and Jarrett Eiskina (3-1, 2.31 ERA).

Lindenwood is 24-19 overall this season and will face McKendree University (Ill.) on Thursday. They are 2-3 against MIAA teams this year splitting a four-game series with conference champion Central Missouri and most recently falling 5-3 at home on Tuesday night to Southwest Baptist University (Mo.).

Wade Rothermich leads the Lions with a .379 batting average in 43 games but as a team Lindenwood is hitting .281 with nine home runs. Reliever Ryan Griffin has a 5-1 record with a 1.83 ERA and eight saves.

Series Schedule:
The four-game series is scheduled for a pair of doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday's games will begin at 1:00 p.m. at the Lou Brock Sports Complex in St. Charles, Mo. while Sunday's will also start at one in Kirksville. The first game each day is slated for seven innings with a nine-inning game to follow. If the first game goes into extra innings, the second game reverts to a seven-inning affair. For any changes to the scheduled, please check TrumanBulldogs.com or @TrumanAthletics on Twitter.

Milestone Watch
With two less games now on the schedule, the chase between Devon Myers and Steven Rose to become 1-2 on the Truman all-time hit list could be in jeopardy.

Myers eclipsed the Truman's all-time hit record of 191 held by Patrick Hardin (2002-05) on Tuesday and now has 195.
Myers is tied for fourth all-time in runs scored (101) and 10th with 13 home runs. He is currently second in RBIs with 110, second in doubles (38), third in at bats (621) and third in total bases (284).
Steven Rose is fifth in hits with 185 career hits, 10 behind Myers and one back of Mike Kubinski and Keaton Jones and six behind Hardin. Rose is tied with Myers for fourth in runs scored, sixth triples (seven) and first with 656 career at bats.
Pitcher Tyler Stefan now holds the school record in appearances by a pitcher with 61. He is third in innings pitched with 210.0 and tied for fourth in strikeouts with 147. He is two and five K's respectively behind a pair of Bulldogs that played in the major leagues, Dave Wehrmeister, who played for the San Diego Padres had 149 and Al Nipper, notably of the Boston Red Sox had 152.
Sophomore Chris Allard is tied for sixth all-time in saves with four. The Bulldog record is nine set by Dan Hillen (2003-05).

Bulldog Bites:

Truman is hitting .277 as a team this season with 67 extra base hits (45 doubles, seven triples and 15 home runs). Last season, the Bulldogs hit .255 with 77 extra base hits. The team had 59 doubles, nine triples and nine home runs to go with 51 stolen bases.
Devon Myers has the team lead in home runs with four and RBIs with 19.
Jarod Hahn leads the team in hitting with a .341 average while seven different Bulldogs have driven in more than 10 runs this season. Hahn's .341 is the highest season batting average for a Bulldog since Luke Crader hit .352 in 2008.
The Bulldogs are 60% in stolen base attempts going 38-of-63 this season. As a team last year, the Bulldogs were 62% successful in stolen base attempts (51-of-82).
The pitching staff has a 5.61 earned run average through 44 games. Opponents are hitting .308 with 102 extra base hits, including 30 round trippers. In 2011, the staff had a 4.96 earned run average in 48 games. Opponents hit .290 with 100 extra base hits (62 doubles, 13 triples and 25 home runs.).
Opponents are scoring 6.56 runs per game while Truman is scoring 3.93.
Truman has had 14 one-run games this season winning nine. Over the past four seasons, the Bulldogs are 17-22 in one-run games. The Bulldogs have nine of their last 10 one-run games.

Senior Spotlight:

#30 Weston Lewis
Weston transferred to Truman after a season at Chicago State and two years at Colby Community College. He has started 29 of 33 games for the Bulldogs this season mainly in the outfield. He has a team leading three triples, two off the school record for a single-season. Weston had a season-high five game hitting streak earlier this year and has scored 11 runs with seven RBIs. He is a Business Administration major from Windsor, Colorado and the son of Kim and Rebecca Lewis.

#29 Dan Plecki
Dan transferred to Truman after two years at Parkland (Illinois) College where he hit four home runs in four consecutive at-bats. The past two years at Truman, Plecki has hit five round trippers and driven in 26 runs in 60 games played. Dan has also posted a career .983 fielding percentage at first base during his Bulldog career. He is a Business Marketing major from Champaign, Ill. And the son of Bob and Kathy Plecki.

# 7 Pete Jurich
Pete has started 74 games out of 93 total as either a DH, catcher or first base. He has driven in 41 runs with a career .276 batting average. He has hit six home runs, with three coming during the month of April this season. Pete has had a seven-game hitting streak this season and is the only Bulldog to have four RBIs in one game. Pete is a member of the MIAA Academic Honor Roll as an Accounting major. He is from Munster, Ind. and the son of Thomas and Louisa Jurich.

#8 Tyler Stefan
Tyler will leave Truman as the Bulldog career leader with appearances as a pitcher with (61) and will finish in the top five in innings pitched and strikeouts. He has started 25 games with 17 coming the last two seasons. He has a 6.51 career ERA with seven wins and three saves. Tyler is a Justice Systems major from Champaign, Ill. and the son of Craig and Anna Stefan.

#25 Steven Rose
Steven has started 187 of 188 games for the Bulldogs at shortstop over the past four seasons and ranks first all-time with over 656 at bats. He is currently chasing teammate Devon Myers for the all-time hit record as Steven has 185, good for fourth. He has driven in 73 runs with 28 doubles, seven triples and three home runs. Steven is a Business Administration major from St. Charles, Mo. and the son of Scott and Jill Rose.

#22 Devon Myers
Devon is the current all-time hits leader at Truman with 195 while starting 181 of 185 games at either catcher or designated hitter. He is second in RBIs with 110, third in total bases and chasing the doubles mark with 38, needing two more for the record. Myers is a career .314 hitter and is a two-time all-MIAA performer and Academic Honor Roll member. Devon is a computer science major from Fenton, Mo. and the son of Jeff and Sue Myers.

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