Box Score KANSAS CITY, Mo. – After a little interlude courtesy of Mother Nature, Griffon Baseball picked up a non-conference win, handling Rockhurst, 13-2 Tuesday night.
Pushed back two hours from the original start time due to rain, the teams didn't get through the first inning before rain forced another delay with the Griffons leading 3-0. When play resumed, little changed as Missouri Western put on an offensive performance more consistent with what the team has been used to of late.
The Griffons piled on 16 hits, scoring three in the first, two in the fourth and sixth and three runs in the eighth and again in the ninth inning. In the first, MWSU got RBIs from
Cosimo Cannella,
Mitch Thorman and
Dylon Koch. Missouri Western took a 5-0 lead in the fourth when
Trevor LaHonta and
Brandon Downs scored after
David Glaude reached on an error.
Grant Woods allowed a leadoff single and two walks in the bottom of the fifth before he was replaced by
Weston Caindec. Caindec induced the second out of the inning before giving up a single that pulled the Hawks within two. Caindec picked up the win, going two and two-thirds, with two hits and two strikeouts. The junior reliever ran his scoreless innings streak to over 12. He hasn't surrendered a run since Feb. 20 at Emporia State. The bullpen kept home plate closed the rest of the way as the Griffon offense continued to tack onto the lead.
Cody Childs drove in one in the sixth with a single before Cannella drove Childs home later in the inning to put MWSU up 7-2. Cannella made it 10-2 in the eighth with a two-RBI double to left and RBIs from
Ryan Degner, Childs and
Jerico Burasco pushed the Griffon lead to 13-2 in the top of the ninth. Cannella finished the evening 3-6 with four RBIs. Degner and Childs both went 2-3 with Childs driving in two and scoring four. Downs finished 3-5 with two runs scored and LaHonta went 2-4 with a pair of runs scored.
The win pushed Missouri Western to 17-9 overall. The team puts its 5-0 record at the Spring Sports Complex on the line this weekend when it hosts nationally ranked and MIAA leading Missouri Southern in a four-game series that begins Friday at 2 p.m.
