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Bulls lose third straight
Owensboro wins final three of four-game series
SIKESTON - The Sikeston Bulls dropped the final game of a four game series to the visiting Owensboro, Ky. Oilers on Thursday night at VFW Stadium 9-5.
After dropping the opener on Monday night, Owensboro took the next three games in a row in convincing fashion.
Despite the third setback in as many nights, Sikeston manager Matt Marshall was pleased with the effort of his team.
"Tonight we were just one or two swings away from maybe pulling out a victory," said Marshall. "The guys showed a lot better attitude tonight than last night. All the guys were in a positive frame of mind and that is a step in the right direction. Maybe this effort tonight will spill over and we can salvage some wins the rest of the way. I am happy with everybody that went out there and played tonight. After last night I was waiting to see what type of performance we would have. You never know with young players if they will bounce back from a poor performance or not. I think everybody recovered nicely and gave it their best tonight."
The Oilers had outscored the Bulls 24-5 in the last two meetings and just looked vastly superior to the Bulls. In four games, Owensboro committed two errors, both were in Thursday night's game.
Owensboro started out of the gates like they were going to blowout the Bulls like they had in the previous two nights.
Will Devick singled with one out off Sikeston starter Tyson Mulvaney. After recording the second out of the inning, Mulvaney could not squeeze out of the inning as cleanup hitter Aaron Hauser hit a sinking line drive to left field. Jamie Puckett came in from his left field position to try to knock the ball down and prevent Devick from scoring.
However, the ball skipped past Puckett and went all the way to the wall allowing Hauser to advance to third base. Casey Martin singled next to drive in the run and the Oilers led 2-0.
Mulvaney settled down after the first and held Owensboro scoreless through the next three innings.
The Oilers broke through in the top of the fourth as Devick hit a two-out single to drive in a run and increase the lead to 3-0.
In the home half of the fourth, the Bulls scored two runs off Owensboro starter Zack Woodard on RBI singles by Sean Bard and Tyler Martin to cut the lead to 3-2.
Owensboro (26-13) tallied a single run in the fifth on a leadoff home run to left field by Hauser to put the Oilers up 4-2.
Heading into the sixth, Mulvaney had racked some pitches up and Marshall admits that he underestimated the toll five innings had on his hurler.
"We waited a little bit too long that cost us," said Marshall. "Tyson ran out of juice a little quicker than we thought. We were hoping he could finish the inning out but he was getting tired after a couple of runs in the inning. Despite the sixth, I think Tyson did an excellent job on the mound and gave it everything he had."
The Oilers racked up five runs in the sixth off the fading Mulvaney and put the Bulls in a major hole. The big blows in the sixth were a two-run double by Hauser and an error by Sean Bard at first base on a hard hit ball right at him, that he booted into left field. Hauser scored on the error for the fifth and final run of the inning. Owensboro led 9-2.
Unlike previous performances lately, the Bulls did not hang their heads and admit defeat. Sikeston battled back in the sixth and seventh innings capped by a monster solo home run to left field by Bard in the sixth and a RBI single by Mulvaney in the seventh.
"Our hustle was vastly improved from last night's game," said Marshall. "When Owensboro had that big inning in the sixth, the guys didn't keep their heads down. They battled and scored some runs to keep in the game."
Despite the mini-comeback by the Bulls, Woodard settled down the rest of the way and shut the Bulls down in the eighth and ninth to get the complete game. Woodard allowed five earned runs, walked two and struck out six.
Hauser and Devick combined to be all the offensive fire power the Oilers needed. Between the two, they were 7-for-9 with four runs driven in.
Bard led the offense for the Bulls going 3-4 with a homer and two runs driven in. Puckett had the only other multiple hits going 2-5 with a run scored.
"Sean has been very consistent all year long for us," said Marshall. "He continues to make progress here of late. Bard has been working on his swing, make some changes here and there. He is coming around at the plate and is just a solid hitter."
The Bulls (11-29) will have their final road trip over the weekend as they will travel to Union City, Tenn. to take on the Greyhounds at 7:05 tonight.
The Bulls will return home for the final week of the Kitty League season beginning on Tuesday afternoon when they will play a doubleheader against the Tennessee T's starting at 5 p.m.
Owensboro 9, Sikeston 5
| Oilers | 200 | 115 | 000 | - | 9 | 13 | 2 |
| Bulls | 000 | 201 | 200 | - | 5 | 9 | 2 |
WP - Zack Woodard
LP - Tyson Mulvaney (0-3)
HR - Sean Bard (S), Aaron Hauser (O)
2B - Hauser (0) 2, Casey Martin (0)
Multiple hitters - Sikeston: Sean Bard 3-4, Jamie Puckett 2-5. Owensboro: Will Devick 4-5, Hauser 3-4, Martin 2-4.
SB - Devick
LOB - Sikeston 7, Owensboro 8
Records - Bulls 11-29, Oilers 26-13