The bats stayed hot for the McCracken County Mustangs on Thursday night as they collected their fifth win in a row, racking up 10 hits along their way to an 11-1, five inning victory over Munster, Indiana.
While the offense kept on ticking, driving home 10 or more runs for the fourth straight game, the top halves of the innings were handled by senior right-hander Will Fox, who turned in another solid outing. Working all five innings, Fox would allow just the one run on four hits and a walk, striking out seven.
The lone run of the evening charged to Fox and the Mustangs would come early on, as back-to-back hits for Munster set McCracken behind the eight ball in the top of the first. However, it wouldn’t take long for the Mustangs to answer back, as rainy conditions led to a pair of second inning walks and infield errors, setting the table for a few pieces of timely hitting. Cashing in through RBI singles for Caden Kern and Brady Thompson, the Mustangs would find themselves out in front through two, taking a decisive 4-1 lead.
“I thought we settled in really well after the first inning, and took some good swings. We stay with our process, try not to get hung up on bad outcomes [early], and just play the next pitch,” said head coach Zach Hobbs, on the Mustangs’ ability to recover from the early deficit. “We did great in two strike counts today, Caden and Brady had both of those hits with two strikes. That’s a good team we were playing and a very good arm, we were able to take advantage of some mistakes on their part…Will settled in on the mound for us, too, after the first and started landing his off-speed for strikes.”
Thompson’s impact on the game wouldn’t end there, though, as the senior kept his hot streak at the plate active through the fourth and fifth innings, going on to post a 3-for-3 line by the end of the evening. First, a lead-off triple for Briar Hall, who himself extended his on-base streak to eight plate appearances, would set up Thompson for his second inside-the-park home run in as many games, sneaking a line drive past a diving outfielder to extend the advantage to 6-1.
Just a frame later, a looping single would drop into right field to drive home his fifth RBI of the night. Across that same inning, three walks and four hits would see the Mustangs pile on the offense for five runs, as a two-run walk-off single for Kendrick Dunning brought the game to a close with a score of 11-1.
“I really like what we’re doing right now,” Hobbs continued. “I’ve loved the approach over these last few games. Every batter in our lineup has been competing and doing a good job of making as hard on the other team’s pitcher as they can. We’re just going to keep working on and building off of our approach, and get right back to it tomorrow.”
Looking to stay busy and keep things moving in the right direction, the Mustangs will be straight back to action Friday afternoon, hoping to make it six straight when they host Alton, Illinois at 3:30 p.m.
MCCRACKEN COUNTY 11, MUNSTER (IN) 1 (5)
MSTR 1 0 0 0 0 X X — 1 4 1
MCHS 0 4 0 2 5 X X — 11 10 0
WP: W. Fox; LP: J. Kunas
2B: MCHS — G. Reeves
3B: MCHS — B. Hall
HR: MCHS — B. Thompson
TB: MCHS — B. Thompson 6, B. Hall 2, G. Reeves 3, C. Kern 1, K. Dunning 1, L. Gagnon 1, O. Aldridge 1; MSTR — D. Bevil 1, D. Craig 1, L. Zelaya 1, N. Southwell 1
HBP: MCHS — C. Kern, L. Gagnon
E: MSTR — D. Bevil
RECORDS: McCracken County (6-4); Munster (3-1)