sports@standard-democrat.com
CAPE GIRARDEAU -- It's been nine days since the Sikeston Bulldogs baseball team has played a game because of the recent weather hinderances, but they were able to shake off the rust.
The Bulldogs would end up loving their return to baseball after an 8-4 win over Notre Dame on Thursday at Notre Dame High School.
"It's always good beating Notre Dame," Sikeston head coach Kevin Self said. "It's been awhile since we have. We were better than them today (Thursday)."
Sikeston (8-3) continued their good fortunes with wooden bats this season. Sikeston and Notre Dame decided to use wood bats on Thursday as preparation for the SEMO Conference Wood Bat Tournament which begins today.
The Bulldogs out-slugged Notre Dame 8-4 in total hits. Sikeston got going early with a two out, two-RBI triple by starting pitcher Trent McMillan to give himself a cushion before stepping on the mound.
"Trent starting the game with a big hit to give us the lead was big," Self said.
Although their slim two-run lead didn't hold for long. Notre Dame answered with two runs in the bottom of the second behind a two-RBI double by Derek Landewee.
Each team went stagnant on the offensive side until the sixth inning when Sikeston most the tie.
After a leadoff single by Tyler Anderson, who eventually made it to third on a sacrifice bunt by Drew Harper and a stolen base, designated hitter Nathan Rodgers drove in Anderson on a fielder's choice play.
Two batters later, Cord Sheehy reached first on an infield error by Notre Dame giving pinch-hitter Ross Bohannon two runners on with two outs.
Bohannon delivered a double to the right-centerfield gap which ended up scoring both Rodgers and Sheehy giving Sikeston a 5-2 lead.
"Ross, with a one-run lead, he put a charge into one," said Self. "He put a really good swing on one and that really took some pressure off. After that we started swinging from the heels then."
Bohannon's double sparked Sikeston to the tune of four hits in the top of the seventh inning, which included back-to-back-to-back doubles from Anderson, Harper and Rodgers.
Sikeston tacked on three more runs in the seventh giving them a six-run lead.
"We like wooden bats for whatever reason," Self said. "We hit the ball with some authority at times."
Notre Dame (9-2) was able to rally back for two runs in the bottom of the seventh but Harper, who came in for relief of McMillan following a walk to Nathan Beussink, was able to retire Notre Dame after four hitters to seal the win.
McMillan threw six innings and allowed three runs. He walked three, hit two batters and struck out four in his winning effort.
"He did a really good job," Self said about McMillan on the mound. "Early in the game, he was behind a lot of hitters but he seems to pitch that way. He gets behind and battles back. That's not always what a coach wants to see but, when he needed to, he got outs."
Sikeston took advantage of three uncharacteristic errors by Notre Dame. Sikeston committed none.
"All in all, we didn't execute offensively or defensively," said Graviett. "You got to give Sikeston credit. They took advantage of it and beat us."
Like Sikeston, Notre Dame has been stuck indoors because of the rain, but was glad to get back outside despite the loss.
"One of the keys for us was getting out on the field and playing," Graviett said. "We put three pitchers out there and we got to swing the wood a day before the conference tournament.
"Just like everybody, we've been tired of being inside and I told our athletic director that we were going to play somehow. We're just fortunate to get to play."
Both Notre Dame and Sikeston will begin the SEMO Conference tournament today. Notre Dame will host Dexter, while Sikeston travels to Cape Central at 4:30 p.m.
Sikeston's game against the Tigers has taken on even more meaning because of two failed attempts to make up their previously scheduled game.
Their game today is now a conference tournament, a conference and a district game.
"We're going to do what we can," Self said about playing Cape Central. "It's a triple threat game. It's a conference, conference tournament and district. It's weighted three times now."
Sikeston 200 003 3 -- 8
Notre Dame 020 000 2 -- 4
WP -- Trent McMillan. LP -- Stephen Carman. 2B -- (S) Ross Bohannon, Tyler Anderson, Drew Harper, Nathan Rodgers; (N) Derek Landewee. 3B -- (S) McMillan.