Catfish 'Walk' Off With Win

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - Three bases-loaded walks in the bottom of the ninth inning made the difference Friday night as the Cape Catfish edged the Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp 6-5. The win ended Cape's seven-game losing streak as well as the six-game winning streak by the Pistol Shrimp.

The win was Cape's first since June 14 and improved the team's record to 8-14. The Pistol Shrimp dropped to 14-8 after splitting a two-day, two-game series at Capaha Field.

The Pistol Shrimp got off to a fast start Friday night when leadoff batter Chance Resetich (Southeast Missouri State University) homered off Catfish starter (and Southeast Missouri State teammate) Tanner Mueller to take a 1-0 lead.

Cape tied the game in the third when hot-hitting Lane Crowden (Three River Community College) singled to left, improving on his team-leading .404 batting average. He stole second and advanced to third on a ground out before Dante Zamudio (West Virginia State University) singled singled him home.

Illinois Valley broke the tie a few minutes later when the University of Hawaii's Jared Quandt hit a two-out, bases-loaded triple that put the Pistol Shrimp up 4-1.

They would manufacture another run in the fifth inning when Harry Mauterer (Washington University in St. Louis) walked, advanced to second when Tucker Bougie (University of California) was hit by a pitch, and then scored on a single to center by Cole Luckey (Bradley University).

The Catfish scored twice in the seventh frame when Dalton Rudd (Western Kentucky University) struck out swinging, but reached first when the ball got away from the Pistol Shrimp catcher. Rudd stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Chris Hall (Florida State College at Jacksonville) then walked and stole second to put two runners in scoring position for Crowden who hit a two-RBI single to pull the 'Fish to cut the Pistol Shrimp lead to 5-3.

Cape threatened in the eighth inning when, with one out, Cam Careswell (University of Missouri) struck out swinging but reached first on a passed ball and advanced to second on a pinch-hit single by Jackson Jarvis (Columbia State Community College) who had just joined the Catfish roster. Hall then reached first on an error to load the bases, but Crowden struck out and Ty Stauss (Southeast Missouri State) popped up to third base to end the inning.

Illinois Valley went into the bottom of the ninth with a two-run lead and seemed to have the game in hand when, with one out, J.D. Ortiz (SIU-Carbondale) reached on an infield single and advanced to third on a double by Kolton Poorman (Three Rivers). Pistol Shrimp reliever Kevin Davis (University of South Carolina) walked Danny Sperling (Southeast Missouri State), the first batter he faced, to load the bases.

Davis then walked Careswell to score Ortiz, making the score 5-4. After striking out Jarvis for the second out of the inning, Davis walked Hall on a 3-2 count to bring in Poorman, tying the game at five runs apiece. Crowden, the next batter, was credited with the game-winning RBI when he also walked to drive in Sperling.

Noah Burkey (Three River) was the pitcher of record for the Catfish, earning his first win of the season against no losses. Davis, who put the winning run on base, took the loss and is now 2-1.

Cape outhit Illinois Valley 13-7. Each team had a fielding error. The game lasted almost three-and-a-half hours and was played before nearly 600 fans.

The Catfish travel to Burlington, Iowa, Saturday for a 6:30 p.m. game against the Bees, followed by a doubleheader Sunday in Quincy against the Gems before enjoying a two-day break Monday and Tuesday.