Two tough losses against Dubuque for baseball Sunday afternoon

St. Louis, Mo. - Fontbonne looked to add to the win column Sunday afternoon but succumbed to the University of Dubuque 13-9 and 10-6. Fontbonne is now 1-8 on the year.

Game 1

Fontbonne got on the scoreboard first bue Dubuque answered with four unanswered runs. Trailing 5-3, the Griffins scored three to pull within two, but the Spartans retaliated with three more runs. Fontbonne scored once in the fifth and twice in the sixth to tie the game 7-7. A new pitcher came in for Dubuque and the Griffins got two on the bases after two hit by pitches in a row. Patrick Shuff recorded the tying RBI on his double which scored Ben Greenway and Logan Mueth. Dubuque scored six runs in a row, starting with a solo homer in the seventh. Fontbonne trailed 13-7 until they rounded out with two runs on four hits in the bottom of the ninth.

Levi Earnest got into trouble in the fifth. After the top half of the inning, the Griffins were down 7-5 but tying the game wiped away Earnest's would-be loss. Michael Puckett Jr. had relieved Earnest and the solo homer from Dubuque in the seventh gave the Spartans the lead, which they never relinqued so Puckett took his first loss of the year. He struck out six batters over four innings but allowed four runs.

Michael Golich went four-for-six at the plate while Jonathan Hoevelmann went three-for-five. Shuff and Hoevelmann each doubled while Golich recorded three stolen bases. First baseman Ryan Schocker had some defensive skills today that came in handy. In the third, he snagged a line drive on a diving play right in front of the bag, facing home, with runners on first and third and one out. He then turned around on the ground and dove to touch first with his glove for the double play to end the inning. He would make almost the same diving stop in game two.

Game 2

Brendan Beck sat Dubuque down one-two-three to open the second game and was rewarded with a 1-0 lead after Golich and Greenway both doubled in the first inning. In this game, the Griffins switched things up as Deiydon Rushing took over in the catcher's position, Boyer moved to center, Borrowman to left and Matt Tossick started at shortstop.

Dubuque scored three runs in the third but Fontbonne tied the game by scoring two themselves. Schocker opened the bottom of the third with a single to center. Logan Mueth doubled the opposite way to right field and both were brought home when Ethan Borrowman doubled to left field. In the bottom of the sixth, Ethan Boyer singled to drive in Golich who had doubled. Beck left the game with a 5-3 lead after Hoevelmann walked in Schocker in the sixth. Beck had struck out five over his six innings of work. Rushing caught Dubuque stealing with a perfect throw to second in the sixth for the first time in his collegiate career. Today was also his first collegiate start.

Tyler Scott relieved Beck on the mound and allowed two runs to tied the game. Drew Tayon came into the game and suffered the loss after allowed two more runs to score in the seventh. Joey Clemente also struggled on the mound in the eighth. He struck out two batters but allowed three runs to score. Freshman Jordan Throgmorton then stepped up and closed out the game in the top of the ninth. The right hander faced four batters and after allowing a single, helped himself out defensively. He caught the would-be sacrifice bunt and threw over to Schocker at first for the double play. After hitting Lasswell, he safely secured the last out which was also bunted his way.

Fontbonne crossed one more run across the plate in the ninth with two outs. Boyer had been hit by a pitch and sprinted home when Greenway singled to center field.

On the day

Schocker led the team with a .556 average at the plate as he went 5-9 with two runs scored and one RBI. He also was part of three double plays including one assisted.

Golich (pictured at top right) led the Griffins with a .727 slugging percentage as he recorded six hits on 11 at-bats including two doubles, five runs scored and one RBI. He tagged a runner and threw to second for one of the Griffins' double plays and stole all three stolen base attempts.

The Griffins travel acrosse Wydown Boulevard to WashU for a 3 p.m. game Wednesday. They then host Elmhurst Saturday at noon followed by a doubleheader Sunday against Loras College.