Late break lifts Tigers past Purple Dragons at home

Carthage capitalized on a little good fortune to come away with a 9-7 victory over Pittsburg, Kan., Saturday during non-conference play.
   

With two out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth inning, Tiger catcher Codi Garber stepped to the plate at Carl Lewton Stadium.
   

Garber, who was 0-for-1 with a sacrifice bunt entering the at bat, worked the count full against Pittsburg reliever Lee Recker.
   

Recker’s next pitch appeared to be strike three, but home plate umpire Joe Hooker hesitated with his call. Hooker’s motion fooled everybody — including himself — as players began filing off the field. In fact, Garber had already begun walking toward the dugout when Hooker called the pitch a ball.
   

“I don’t talk about umpires much, but it was one of those days,” explained Carthage coach Scott Quinly. “It was a rough day for that guy back behind the plate.”
   

Pittsburg head coach Mike Wilbert was baffled by Hooker’s decision, however, the call stood, and senior shortstop Anthony Eck trotted home.
   

The call ignited a two-out rally, as the Tigers scored two more runs to take an 8-7 lead.
   

“It’s kind of how it goes,” Quinly said. “(Pittsburg) got a couple of calls, we got a couple of calls, but it’s unfortunate.
   

“The best baseball games played are when people don’t even notice the umpires ... today umpires were noticed.”
   

After the game, Wilbert didn’t care to comment on the officiating, stating there was more to the loss then one call.
   

“We made four errors,” said Wilbert. “We had some hitting opportunities we didn’t take advantage of and we walked more batters then we needed to.
   

“Carthage is a far better ball club then their record indicates. When they get the right people on the hill and get some big hits, they’re going to do some things.”
   

Carthage tacked on an insurance run in the seventh after Stephen Poston, batting .351 with a team-high 20 RBI, parked Recker’s 2-1 pitch over the right field wall to give the Tigers a 9-7 lead.
   

“He has been a great player for us all year,” Quinly said of Poston. “He has been swinging the bat really well lately.
   

“He is starting to understand a little bit more about pitch selection and when to be aggressive and when not. He picked a good time to be aggressive on a ball thrown to the outer half of the plate. That was a giant run for us.”
   

Tiger starter Clint Spencer, 2-1 with a 4.05 ERA, went the distance to earn his second win of the season. Spencer gave up seven runs but only one was earned.
   

Pittsburg staked starter Jake Zahm to a 2-0 lead after taking advantage of a few miscues to score a pair in the first, but Carthage answered with one run in the bottom of the second and three runs in the third.
   

Only one run, though, was earned, as Pittsburg committed three errors in two innings.
   

Dalton Cossey delivered the key blow in the third, with a one-out RBI single up the middle, scoring two runs.
   

The lead, however, didn’t last for long.
   

Carthage committed two errors in the fourth, allowing Pittsburg to tie the game. The Purple Dragons reclaimed the lead, 7-5, with three runs in the top of the fifth.
   

Successive hits by Zach White and Shane Drenick and a free pass to Zach Richardson loaded the bases with no one out.
   

Spencer induced a ground ball from Gary Green for the first out, followed by a key strikeout of Sean Stotler for the second out. But a routine popup was dropped, extending the inning and allowing Drenick to score. Jace Erwin laced a single to left field, plating two more runs.

“They score seven runs and six were unearned,” said Quinly. “But one thing Clint has done all year long is give us a chance to win baseball games, and he did it again today.”

Spencer didn’t allow Pittsburg to score again.
   

“Sometimes it doesn’t go your way,” Spencer noted. “You just have to work through it and not get mad.”
   

After Carthage broke open the dike to score three in the bottom half of the fifth, Spencer settled in and got Pittsburg out on a variety of fly balls, spiced with an occasional strikeout.
   

“You have to have the right mindset to come in and pitch and follow the same technique on every pitch,” explained Spencer. “I’m a backwards pitcher and I throw a lot of curves. Today I threw more fastballs and kept (Pittsburg) guessing.”
   

Saturday’s loss was Pittsburg’s first of the season, dropping its record to 13-1 overall. Carthage improved its home record to 6-4 and improved to 7-13 overall, with two regular season games left. The Tigers have a pair of Southwest Conference games coming up this week, beginning with Webb City on Tuesday, before coming home to face Nevada on Thursday. Both games are scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m., weather permitting.