The St. Joseph Mustangs rallied from a 3-0 deficit Thursday night in Game 2 of the MINK League Championship Series to defeat Sedalia 6-4 inside Phil Welch Stadium.
With the win, St. Joe’s summer college baseball team forces a winner-take-all Game 3 against the Bombers Friday night at Phil Welch. The Mustangs will be going for their third MINK League title in four seasons.
Sedalia took control of the Game 2 early as they scored two runs in the first inning and added one more in the second to take a 3-0 lead after just an inning and a half.
St. Joseph responded quickly as they tied the game in the second with three runs of their own. Zac Johnson was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, Evan McDonald had an RBI ground out and Lucas Powers capped off the inning with a two-out RBI single.
The Bombers regained the lead with one run in the fifth inning, but the Mustangs responded again as they tied the game in the bottom of the fifth on a Tanner Lubach RBI single.
St. Joe then took the lead for the good in the sixth inning as Joe Koerper hit a two-out single to score McDonald.
Koerper led the Mustangs’ 12-hit attack as he finished 5-for-5 with four singles, one double and an RBI. No other St. Joseph batter had a muilt-hit game but every Mustang had a base hit in the game except for Kyle Richards.
McDonald had two RBI and Brandon Huske scored two runs.
Trent Hill (4-0) earned the win in relief as he worked the final 3.2 innings, allowing only one hit and no runs. He struck out four and walked one.
Jake Jones started for St. Joe but lasted just 4.2 innings and he allowed three earned runs and seven hits.
The Mustangs are now 39-16 this season and they’ll play the deciding Game 3 of the series Friday at 7:00 p.m. inside Phil Welch Stadium. The winner will capture the MINK League championship and will earn a bye into the championship bracket of the NBC World Series. The runner-up will still go to the NBC in Wichita but they’ll begin play on Saturday night.
Game 3 of the Mustangs and Sedalia Bombers will be broadcast on ESPN 1550 AM and here on StJosephPost.com.
Manager Matt Johnson says its a big win after falling behind early
Manager Matt Johnson says he and his team are excited to play for MINK League title