ST. LOUIS – A pitcher's duel evolved into big hits in big moments, then came right back down to a pitcher slamming the door in the Gateway to the West. Jacksonville University baseball tied the game in the ninth, took the lead in the 10th and turned to the nation's best closer to finish the deal, even if he made it more interesting than usual.
JU (26-13) prevailed 3-2 in 10 innings Friday night, taking game one at St. Louis (25-12) in dramatic fashion to earn its fourth straight victory, a season-long streak.
"Two aces on Friday night going at it, giving everything they had," said Head Coach Chris Hayes. "This was a game of will and toughness. Our team did an unbelievable job of managing that and finishing the job."
For the longest time, it shaped up to be a good old-fashioned Friday night pitcher's duel. JU's Chris Gau and SLU's Miller Hogan were both aces on the mound, both allowing only one run in seven innings, with Gau striking out seven and Hogan nine along the way.
The Billikens did get to Gau early, plating a first inning run off a one-out single, a stolen base that lead to a throwing error and a double down the right field line. The Dolphins answered right back, when Angel Camacho was hit by a pitch to start the frame, went to second on a Sam Armstrong single, advanced to third when John Cassala flew out to right and came home to score on Connor Stephens sacrifice fly to center.
After that, both pitchers were dominant, even when at first glance it seemed like they may be wilting. A man moved into scoring position in both the fourth and the fifth against Gau, but a groundout ended the threat the first time and Gau picked the runner off second the next time.
"Gau's command was great tonight," said Hayes. "He was phenomenal tonight in the way that he attacked the bottom of the zone."
Jacksonville finally seemed to break through in the seventh, but after loading the bases on single by Scott Dubrule and Camacho and a walk by Armstrong, the next three Dolphins were retired without a run scoring.
The tie extended until the eighth, when Dolphin reliever Trent Palmer (3-1) walked the first man he faced, who was then bunted into scoring position and scored on single to center. JU tied it right back up in the ninth, when Camacho again led off an inning by reaching base, this time via a walk against the Billiken closer. He advanced to third on an Armstrong double, before scoring to tie it at two on Cassala's groundout to short. Palmer retired St. Louis in order in the bottom half to force extras.
"Our hitters finally said 'enough'. They stopped putting so much pressure on themselves and let the game come to them," said Hayes. "I think early we were pushing, but I was really glad to see the guys come through in the big spots at the end."
A one-out single by Ruben Somillan started the 10th, and two batters later Dubrule drove him in with a hard-hit ball to right. Chris Mauloni entered and promptly gave up a single to center, a bunt single on a sacrifice attempt and walked the bases loaded with no outs. He then proceeded to strike out the side to earn his 15th save of the season.
"Mauloni is a special competitor," said Hayes. "That dugout knew that if there was anyone that could get out of that situation it was him.
"You saw his competitiveness and toughness take over and it allowed his game to elevate. That was special finish to the game"
Jacksonville plays St. Louis again tomorrow at 3 p.m. with a chance to win the series. The game airs on mixlr.com/judolphins.
