Scots Snatch Wins from Pioneers

Scots Snatch Wins from Pioneers- Wil Teague, Sports Information Director, 3/3/25

Pioneer Baseball faced two tough road losses to NCAA DIII Lyon College this afternoon dropping game one by a spread of 4 runs and seeing the Scots sneak out the one-run win in game two.

Game 1

Crowley's Ridge- 0

Lyon College- 4

Batesville, Ark.- The Pioneers were bested by the Scots in the opening matchup, dropping the contest 4 runs to nil as CRC lost the pitchers dual between Lyon College's Conrad Muir and Crowley's Ridge's Brayden Mashek. In his first collegiate start, Mashek went the distance for CRC, throwing all 6.0 innings, spacing 4 runs off 4 hits while walking 2, and striking out 4 in his outing on the bump. The Pioneers amassed three hits in the dual. Freshman Alex Gamez collected two of them, going 2-3 with a double, and Sophomore Rilyn Coleman is credited with the third hit, going 1-2 in the shutout loss.

Game 2

Crowley's Ridge- 8

Lyon College- 9

Batesville, Ark.- In game two, the Pioneers heartbreakingly were defeated by the Scots by one run with Lyon College winning the contest in the bottom frame of the 7th inning in walk-off fashion. In the early innings, junior out-fielding trio Trey Drake, Clay Burgess, and Conner Boan each helped the Pioneers to a 3-0 lead with Drake taking advantage of a Scotsman fielding error to reach home in the first, Burgess scoring a second run with a sac fly in the same frame, and Boan bringing in Kade Lindgren via a fielders choice an inning later. Woefully, it wouldn't be smooth sailings despite the hot start from CRC as Lyon College quickly responded and reclaimed the lead, 6-3, with a pair of 3-run streaks in the second and third innings. The Pioneers were able to push a 4th run across the plate in the fourth as junior Boan brought in his second RBI of the game with a sac fly to right center, but the hosting Scots would immediately cancel out the progress with a solo homer in the fifth. Lyon College would keep the three-run lead over the next two innings, heading into the top of the 7th leading CRC 7-4 and forcing the Pioneers to stare down their last three outs. In the do-or-die inning, the Pioneers delivered a game-saving 4 runs with Rilyn Coleman and James Wilson opening the inning with back-to-back doubles, and CRC, fortunately, catching a break with Wilson scoring on a failed pick-off attempt by Lyon College. The clutch swing completing the game-saving inning came from the bat of junior Kade Lindgren who rocketed a homer to left field with 2 outs on a 2-2 count, scoring Burgess to give the Pioneers an 8-7 lead. Painfully, this high was short-lived with the Scots ending the inning and quickly lacing together a string of hits to load runners in scoring position before heartbreakingly snatching the contest with a bases-loaded grounder to second base. 

Senior Mike Sharp was credited with the loss, with the RHP relieving southpaw Lawson Graff in the 3rd inning. Sharp threw 4.1 competitive innings for the Pioneers, allowing 4 runs (3 earned) off 6 hits while walking 1 and fanning 1 in the loss. The Pioneers scored 8 runs off 8 hits. Kade Lindgren led the attack, going 3-4 with 2 RBIs, HR, and 3 runs scored. 

Up Next: The Pioneers will pick up their conference play, traveling to Hannibal, MO to take on Hannibal-LaGrange University this weekend in a four-game series. #GOPIONEERS