By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
Senior Ty Hilsabeck threw nine strikeouts in a complete game and held Lafayette without a hit in a 2-1 victory for Savannah at Phil Welch Stadium on a breezy Tuesday afternoon.
The last time these MEC foes met, Lafayette ended Savannah's season with a 7-0 defeat in the district championship at Lathrop last May.
"It felt good," Hilsabeck said of the victory. "We owed Lafayette after kicking us out last year. So, it felt good to get 'em."
Lafayette's lone run came in the bottom of the second inning when senior Xavion Page got on with a leadoff walk. He stole second and made it home on groundout sacrifices from Brendon Bushong and Drake Losson, giving the Irish an early 1-0 lead.
Lafayette only had three baserunners in the game's final five innings - a walk, an error and a hit batter. Hilsabeck put the Irish down in order in the bottom of the seventh to seal the deal.
"He did a great job of keeping them off balance," Savannah coach Erich Bodenhausen said of Hilsabeck's performance. "He really pounded the strike zone and he's not even in midseason form yet. So, he's only going to get better as we go through this."
Offensively, Savannah notched seven hits and got on the board in the top of the fourth. Sophomore Wyatt Jackson led off the frame with a single up the middle. Junior Ethan Dudeck followed that up with a walk.
In the next at-bat, senior Ethan Dennis singled hard down the right field line, scoring both runners and putting Savannah up 2-1.
Savannah (7-1) notched a hit in five different innings, but stranded 10 total runners and left bases loaded in both the second and sixth innings.
"We didn't get any timely hits," Bodenhausen said. "We came out on Saturday (against Central) and scored a whole bunch of runs. Yesterday (against Plattsburg) and today, we came out and we had to scratch out everything we got. But, that's the way baseball is and that's why it's fun."
At the end of the day, Savannah has won five straight, and has played eight total games, while most teams in the area have only played 2-4 thus far.
"We're feeling good," Hilsabeck said. "We need to keep scoring runs to put pressure on people, because I'm sure they're going to be coming after us."
Savannah is home to Cameron Thursday, while Lafayette is at Maryville on the same day.
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