The Thomas More Prep – Marian baseball team has now won 11 straight games after earning a sweep over Russell (1-11) in Tuesday’s doubleheader at TMP Field. The Monarchs take the opener 9-3 and win game two 12-2 in six innings to improve to 11-1 on the season. They are at Salina Sacred Heart Thursday.
Brian Schumacher Postgame Interview:
Coaches Interview
Game 1: TMP-Marian 9, Russell 3
Game 1 Highlights:
TMP Highlights Game 1
After making his debut appearance on the mound last Friday in Goodland for one inning of relief pitching, sophomore Cameron Brin (1-0) made his first start in game one and earned the win by going six innings. Brin gave up three runs on six hits while striking out seven and only walking one batter.
Russell (1-11) received their first win of the season last Friday against Ellis and the Broncos were competing with TMP early on making it a 3-3 ballgame going into the bottom of the fourth inning.
The Monarchs would end up batting around in the fourth scoring five runs and forcing Russell’s starting pitcher, Brennan Walter (0-3), out of the game after pitching just three innings.
TMP’s Nick Hammeke, Taylor Pfeifer, and Pierce Schippers all had two hits each. Senior Dylan Lang relieved Brin at pitcher in the seventh inning and gave up one hit but also received a double-play ball to help out his cause to close out the game. Pfeifer returned to the lineup Tuesday afternoon for the first time since April 5th after missing four plus games due to a hip flexor injury.
Game 2: TMP-Marian 12, Russell 2, 6 innings
Game 2 Highlights:
TMP Highlights Game 2
TMP had three explosive innings with the bats and again received solid outings on the mound by their young pitchers.
TMP’s freshman Kameron Schmidt (1-0) made his first start and pitched four innings which turned out to be good enough for the win. Schmidt gave up two runs on five hits while striking out three and walking two batters.
The Monarchs had big scoring frames in the first, fourth, and fifth innings plating four, four, and three runners respectively. TMP batted around in the first and fifth innings and sent 10 to the plate in the fourth inning. Russell’s sophomore Kaden Rohr (0-3) was tagged with the loss pitching 3 2/3 innings.
Hammeke went 3-for-4 in the second game and hit the RBI single in the sixth inning to give TMP a 10-run lead and finish the game due to the mercy rule. Hammeke finished the doubleheader 5-for-7 from the plate and is now batting .514 on the season.