The University of Sioux Falls baseball team split a doubledip with William Jewell College on Saturday to snap a nine-game losing streak, their longest since 2005.
The Cougars came in on the losing side in the opener, as William Jewell scored a run in the bottom of the tenth inning for an 8-7 walk-off victory.
Led by a spectacular performance on the mound by Derek Fischer, USF defeated William Jewell 4-0 in game two for its first shutout of the season.
With the split, the Cougars improve to 3-11 overall while the Cardinals finish the weekend with a mark of 7-5.
In the opener, things look promising early for the visiting side as USF had ducks on the pond with two outs, but Dylan Dwyer lined out to the right fielder to end the first inning.
William Jewell struck first in the bottom of the frame. JP Bartmess led off with a double and the bases were quickly loaded after the Cardinals induced a hit by pitch and a walk from freshman righty Eric Brothers. A three RBI double-baser by Willie Garball made it 3-0 in favor of the home team. Brothers retired the next three batters to prevent further damage.
USF answered back in the top half of the next inning. Derek Fischer led off with a double and advanced to second after a sacrifice by Brandon Madsen. Keith Cutler drew a walk and base knock to right field by Anthony Williams loaded the bases for Zach Ireland, who whacked a bases-clearing double to tie the game. Brennden Ward followed with an RBI single to give the Cougars the 4-3 lead.
The lead didn't hold up for long though, as the Cardinals pushed across two runs in the bottom of the second inning and knock Brothers from the game, who hurled 42 pitches in 1.1 innings.
The Cougars went quietly in the third, while William Jewell picked up a run in its half of the frame to go up 7-4.
USF rallied in the fourth to knot the game at 7-7. Cutler, Williams and Ireland tagged Cardinal starter Cody Downing for three straight singles and were brought home by a pair of sacrifices (Goodenow/Kardas) and a base knock by Ward.
After five and a half scoreless innings, the game ended when Cardinal David Smith drew a bases-loaded walk from Anthony Williams in the bottom of the 10th.
Mark Vig (0-1) gave up one run on one hit with two walks and was saddled with the loss. In total, six pitchers saw action for USF. Brothers allowed six runs on three hits with two strikeouts and two walks. Chris Nichols turned in a long relief outing, giving up just one run on four hits with three strikeouts and two walks in 5.1 innings of work. Derek Fischer provided 2.1 innings of scoreless relief, allowing no hits and two walks. Andrew Christensen did not record an out while Anthony Williams allowed one walk in 0.1 of an inning.
The Cougars out-hit the Cardinals, 10-8. Ireland was 2-for-5 with 3 RBI and two runs scored while Williams finished the game 2-for-6 with two runs scored. Ward was 2-for-4 with 2 RBI. Madsen had two hits and Cutler was 1-for-3 with two runs.
In the nightcap, Fischer pulled double duty and took the mound despite tossing 2.1 innings of relief in game one.
USF had the first opportunity to score after Fischer had thrown three scoreless innings. In the top of the fourth, leadoff hitter Ward reached first on a shortstop error, stole second and advanced to third on a hit and run situation when Dwyer delivered a single. Kardas smacked a hard ground ball to left field to plate Ward and Dwyer scored on a sacrifice by Madsen. A second error by the Cardinals' shortstop put Cougars at the corners before an errant throw by the backstop brought Kardas home and moved Ryan Fobes to third. USF threatened for more, but Fobes was called out at the plate to end the inning.
The Cardinal nine notched back-to-back two out singles in the bottom of the frame before Fischer retired Tom Herrera on a called third strike.
USF threatened again in the fifth when Ireland singled and was off and running when Goodenow followed with a base knock, but was caught in no man's land between second and third and tagged out. WJC starter Drew Mitrisin struck out Ward to finish the frame.
The Cougar defense came through for their hurlsmith after Fischer hit the lead-off man in the bottom of the fifth. Kardas hauled in a pair of fly balls to right field and Fischer induced a groundout for the third out
After an uneventful sixth inning, Ireland soaked a two-out single through the infield and Goodenow doubled on the next pitch to give USF a 4-0 lead going into the Cardinal half of the seventh.
The Cardinals had runners on first and second with one out but the rally was stymied when the Cougars converted a 6-4-3 double play to end the game and their nine-game losing skid.
Fischer (2-0) was phenomenal on Saturday, going wire-to-wire for his first career shutout victory. The Brandon Valley product scattered six hits in seven innings with four strikeouts and no base on balls.
Mitrisin (1-2) recorded the complete game loss for the Cardinals. The southpaw allowed four runs on nine hits with four strikeouts and three walks.
The Cougars out-hit the Cardinals in the nightcap, 9-6. Ireland went 2-for-4 with a run scored and a stolen base. Austin Goodenow tallied two hits, including a double, and a run-batted-in. Kardas went 2-for-3 with an RBI and scored a run. Dwyer was 1-for-2 with a run and a walk while Madsen had a sacrifice fly.
USF (3-11) will visit crosstown rival Augustana (1-3) for a single game on Wednesday. First pitch at Ronken Field is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.
