Springfield Fans 16 Catfish Batters Enroute to 4-1 Win

Cape Girardeau, MO July 10 – A pair of Springfield pitchers combined to strike out 16 Cape batters while allowing just one runner to cross the plate as the Lucky Horseshoes defeated the Catfish 4-1 Sunday afternoon at Capaha Field.

Springfield starting pitcher Zachary Ryan, a redshirt sophomore at Grayson College in Denison, Texas, struck out 10 Cape batters over his six innings of work. He gave up five hits, walked one batter and allowed just one run on a sacrifice fly in the third inning hit by Southeast Missouri State’s Ty Stauss.

That run gave Cape a 1-0 lead, but Springfield tied the score in the fourth on a two-out RBI single by designated hitter Dylan Nevar (Western Michigan University). The ‘Shoes took the lead in the fifth when Sikeston native and Three Rivers Community College sophomore Noah Self, appearing in his second game with Springfield, got his first hit of the season, a two-out RBI single.

The Horseshoes added two runs in the seventh when, with a runner on first, Nasir Frederick (Grambling) singled to center and the ball was misplayed by Catfish center fielder Josh Cameron (Southeast Missouri State), allowing both the runner on first and Frederick to score.

Ryan was relieved in the seventh inning by A.J. Golembiewski (University of Illinois-Springfield) who recorded the final nine outs, six of them on strikeouts. The win went to Ryan (1-2) while Catfish starter Griffin Lohman (Purdue) took the loss, dropping his record to 3-3 in his eight starts. Lohman struck out four Springfield batters in his six-plus innings of work while allowing five hits and walking one. He was responsible for three of Springfield’s four runs.

Cape’s loss and Springfield’s win gave both teams identical 21-14 records, tying them for third (and last) place in the Prairie Land Division of the Prospect League’s Western Conference. The Catfish and Horseshoes both have 2-2 records in the second half of the league’s season.

Cape has an off day Monday and will face the Alton River Dragons at Capaha Field on Tuesday and Wednesday with both games scheduled to start at 6:35 p.m.