Crowder tops St. Louis in opening round of Region 16 tournament

No. 1 seed Crowder recorded 21 hits and the Roughriders rolled on to earn a 15-7 run-rule victory in eight innings in the first round of the Region 16 baseball tournament Thursday night at Joe Becker Stadium in Joplin.

Brady Nolen led the Roughriders past No. 4 seed St. Louis Community College with four hits. Rylan Michel, Lawson Ward and Camren Stratton each added three hits. Stratton led with four runs scored. Ward and Nolen both finished with three runs batted in.

The team leader in RBIs was Ryan Stalony with four. Stalony was 2 for 4 at the plate with a home run. Stratton, Nolen, Michel and William Beaudoin each hit a double. Stratton also legged out a triple.

Crowder never trailed in the game as it got out to a 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the second inning. St. Louis knotted the score up with a couple runs of its own in the top half of the third frame.

The Roughriders took the lead at 6-2 in the home half after putting up four runs. It led 10-5 after the fourth, 12-7 after the fifth and 14-7 after the sixth. It scored its last run in the bottom of the eighth to seal the run-rule victory.

Left-handed pitching freshman Mason Schirmer got the start for Crowder and was lifted in the middle of the fourth. He allowed five runs, four earned, in 3 1/3 innings on six hits and three walks. He struck out five batters.

Sophomore southpaw Nathan Defries relieved Schirmer and was tough to hit. He finished the final 4 2/3 innings and struck out 10 batters for most of his 14 outs he recorded. He allowed two runs on two hits and two walks.

The Roughriders advanced to play at 4 p.m. Friday in the semifinals against No. 3 seed St. Charles Community College. St. Charles defeated No. 2 Mineral Area College 8-5 on Thursday.