Matt Laird went 4-for-6 with four RBIs
Matt Laird went 4-for-6 with four RBIs to lead the Gold Team in a 16-11 blowout victory over the Maroon Squad in the opening game of the annual ULM Blood Series Wednesday night at Warhawk Field.
Tom O’Gorman (4-for-6), Boomer Blanchard (3-for-5), Ryan McMillan, Kelvin York, Craig Scelfo and Nick Wade all recorded multiple hits for the Gold Team as they pounded out 20 for the game. Blanchard also stole three bases and McMillan had the game’s lone home run.
Don Williams picked up the win tossing five innings allowing just one run on six hits. Tony Dischler suffered the loss allowing five runs, three earned, on five hits in 2.2 innings of work.
Jordy Poche, Ben Soignier, Matt Collins, Perry Smith and Will Hardy all recorded multiple hits for the Maroon Team.
After the teams each plated a run in the first inning, the Gold Team pushed across four in the third and two in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh innings to stake a 13-4 lead.
Louie Lancaster led off both the third and fourth innings drawing a walk and Blanchard followed each walk with a single. McMillan moved Lancaster and Blanchard up a base in the third on a sacrifice bunt and Josh Chappell hit a sharp grounder to short to score the first run of the frame.
Laird singled back up the middle scoring Blanchard, and O’Gorman followed with a double to center. An error on the double allowed Laird to score and O’Gorman to advance to third. The error proved to be costly as O’Gorman came around to score on another Maroon error later in the inning.
Laird drove home both runs in the fourth inning on a single to center field scoring McMillan and Blanchard.
The Gold Team manufactured the first run of the fifth after Scelfo stole third and scored on a Lancaster sacrifice fly. Blanchard turned the finesse game into a power contest as he blasted a triple to the wall in left-center scoring Wade.
Smith blasted a two-RBI double to left-center and Hardy brought him home with a sac fly in the sixth closing the gap to 11-4.
The Maroon Team battled even closer with a five-spot in the bottom of the eighth inning. Smith delivered the key blow with a two-run triple, while Hardy had a run-scoring single.
The series continues on Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. – note the time change from the originally scheduled 2 p.m. – at Warhawk Field. There is still time to sign up for the Hackers Classic Golf Tournament which takes place Friday and Saturday morning. For more information or to sign up for the Hackers Classic, contact Dax Leone at 318-801-1675.
