By MATT PIKE
The St. Joseph Mustangs extended their win streak to four games, beating the Nevada Griffons on the road 16-4 in a seven inning run rule victory, sweeping a road trip for the first time this season.
The Mustangs held a 2-1 lead after the first two innings, with Carson Schrack scoring on a double play in the first inning and a solo home run from Charles Stevens in the second inning, before the Griffons cut the lead in half in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI double. In the third inning, St. Joseph poured on five more runs to extend the lead, the big hit coming from Tyler Gundelfinger on a grand slam, driving in Brayden Luikart, Boston Bruce, and Schrack, before Stevens hit an RBI single to score Carter Belton to put the Mustangs up 7-1 after two and a half innings.
In the bottom of the third the Griffons scored two more runs, the first on a double play and the second an RBI double, to cut the Mustangs lead to four. But St. Joseph pulled away with six runs in the fifth inning. A bases loaded walk to Bruce scored Stevens before Luikart cleared the bases with a three RBI double, bringing home Bruce, Schrack, and Carson Hintz. Gundlefinger walked and Luikart stole third base, before coming home on an error by the catcher, and Gundelfinger later scored the final run of the top half of the inning on an RBI double by Isaiah Ketller to put the Mustangs up 13-3.
Nevada scored their final run in the bottom half of the inning on a sacrifice fly, and the Mustangs added one run in the sixth with an RBI single from Schrack driving in Eden Meyers, and then added the final two runs in the seventh as Ketller scored when Belton reached first on an error, Belton later scoring when Stevens hit an RBI triple to put St. Joseph up 16-4. Luke Howard walked one batter, but retired the rest to close out the game in the bottom half of the seventh.
Chris Coy threw five innings to earn the win, giving up all four runs on five hits with five walks and six strikeouts. Caden Carter and Luke Howard combined for two scoreless, hitless innings of relief with three walks and one strikeout. At the plate, Stevens was 3-for-4 with a triple, a home run, a walk, and three RBI's, coming a double shy of the cycle. Schrack was 4-for-5 with a walk and an RBI scoring a run
The Mustangs are now 16-12 on the season, 13-11 in the MINK League, and return home on Wednesday for a matchup with the St. Joseph All Stars. First pitch at Phil Welch Stadium will be at 6:30pm.
You can follow Matt on X @KfeqMatt.