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Sikeston baseball team drops first game of the season to Jackson 13-4
SIKESTON -- After two trips to the plate by Jackson, the Sikeston baseball team found themselves looking up at a big deficit.
Not even a spark from their recent power surge could help scale back Jackson's attack at the plate, which went off for 13 hits during Sikeston's 13-4 loss to the Indians Friday at VFW Memorial Stadium.
It's the first loss for Sikeston, who scored 30 combined runs during their first two games of the season. The Bulldogs were held to two hits, both by Trey Smith, and those happened in the first two innings.
Sikeston went hitless in the final five innings which didn't help a comeback bid against a Jackson team that kept putting up runs.
"They were really aggressive with the fastball," Sikeston coach Brett Kolons said. "They put good swings on pitches that may have missed spots. They hit the ball... They're just good hitters. They recognized good pitches and put good swings on the ball."
Jackson (5-1) continues its hot start to the season at the dish. They've scored an average of 12 runs through their first six games and put the pressure on early with five hits in the first two innings which led to to a 7-0 advantage.
"I thought offensively we were very good," Jackson coach Bryan Austin said. "We had a good approach at the plate, barreled a lot of balls, took advantage on the bases. I think that's the only reason we were in the baseball game because I thought we played defense very poorly and didn't pitch it well at all. Those were the bad parts, but fortunately for us, we hit the ball really well tonight."
Dishing out double-digit hits and being aggressive on the base paths certainly covered up Austin's frustration with his defense and pitching.
The speedy Indians took extra bases nearly each time the opportunity presented itself. Although Sikeston picked off two runners, Jackson stole seven bases and advanced to the next base five more times behind wild pitches and passed balls.
"Our guys are very aggressive and we're fortunate right now to have a lot of speed on the bases," Austin said. "Our offensive thought is if we can take as many bases as possible with our speed that's what we're going to try and do. A lot of our guys have the green light and if they feel they can get a jump they can take off. At times, we'll be a little too aggressive, but I'd rather be aggressive than passive."
Jackson's base running put runners in scoring position in every inning except one.
"They've got a lot of speed up and down their lineup. That's something we talked about before the game," Kolons said. "Pretty much 1-9 can all run so we needed to be prepared for it and it didn't happen how we wanted it to."
The Indians scored two runs on four singles in the top of the first inning and never looked back.
A two-run triple by Tyler Knight, who later homered in the fifth, highlighted a five-run second inning for the Indians. An outfield error by Sikeston allowed two runs to score later in the fifth and a sacrifice fly of the bat of Colten Weber made it 7-0 Jackson in the blink of an eye.
Sikeston's biggest stand began in the bottom of the second when Smith cranked his third home run of the year over the left field fence. His three-run shot cut Jackson's advantage to four runs.
Sikeston kept chipping away the next innings after a sacrifice fly from Camden Sapp scored Bryce Bays to make it 7-4.
But Jackson added three more runs in the fourth and a solo shot from Knight in the fifth to pull away 11-4.
The Indians tacked on two more runs in the top of the seventh for good measure behind a two-run home from Jarrett Newell.
"They knew what they were looking for at the plate and stayed in their plan," Austin said. "I'm really proud of them for that. There's been times where we've had great plans and we missed off the barrel. Tonight, we just barreled up the baseball really well."
Jackson's defense committed two errors on routine ground balls and also gave up nine walks which allowed Sikeston to put runners on despite their offensive woes. The big hit never came, however, as Sikeston (2-1) stranded 10 runners.
"We started to chip away early in the game and kept our consistent approach that we've had these first couple of games," Kolons said. "As they kept putting up runs we kind of lost our approach and lost ourselves. We just need to realize that being us is good enough. We don't need to try and be somebody else."
Drew Brown picked up the win for Jackson on the mound after 5 1/3 innings of relief. Brown gave up one unearned run on no hits and walked five while striking out four on 93 pitches after he replaced Weber in the bottom of the second.
Weber allowed three earned runs on two hits and four walks while striking out four on 61 pitches.
"Drew didn't have his best stuff. He's typically a kid that can locate three pitches and keeps it at the knees, but he gutted this one out," Austin said. "He got better as the game went on. He wasn't able to go to the bullpen at the start, I pulled him from third base and you can kind of understand why it was a little rough early for him. But he settled in late."
Will Gilmer was the losing pitcher after 4 1/3 innings. The junior, who threw 61 pitches during Sikeston's season opener on Monday, gave up 11 runs -- all earned -- on 11 hits and four walks while striking out four on 103 pitches.
"He really had some good stuff but he missed some location," Kolons said. "Really, you have to give Jackson credit. They jumped on good pitches and hit them a long way."
Sophomore Nate Self finished the remaining 2 2/3 innings in relief. He allowed two earned runs on four hits while striking out four and walking two on 60 pitches.
"We saw some good, promising signs," Kolons said about Self. "We can tell that he's improved from last year, which we knew that going in, but he competed. He didn't get everything he wanted, but he's a competitor."
Sikeston will be back in action on Tuesday when they host Waukegan, Ill., at 4:30 p.m.
Jackson will travel to Vianney High School on Monday to take part in the 20th Annual Midwest Classic. They play Vianney at 2 p.m. and then Fort Zumwalt West at 4:30 p.m. as part of pool play.
Jackson 250 310 2 -- 13 13 2
Sikeston 031 000 0 -- 4 2 2
WP -- Drew Brown. LP -- Will Gilmer. 2B -- Landon Pehle (J). 3B -- Tyler Knight (J). HR -- Knight (J), Jarrett Newell (J), Trey Smith (S). Multiple hitters -- Jackson: Cole Welter 3-3, Newell 2-5, Dobbs 2-4, Knight 2-3. Sikeston: Smith 2-3.