HAYS – The Hays Larks were three outs away from taking three of four from Liberal but the Bee Jays rallied with a run in the ninth then another in the 10th and beat the Larks 5-4 Monday night at Larks Park.

The Larks (20-6, 19-5 KCLB) and Liberal (17-9, 15-9 KCLB) are now tied atop the KCLB Jayhawk West Division at 7-5.

Frank Leo Postgame Interview

Game Highlights

The Larks rallied from a 3-0 deficit with three runs in the fifth inning then took the lead on a Mikey Gangwish groundout which scored Justin Lee in the seventh.

Starter Tommy Garcia and Wyatt Divis combined to retire 13 straight Liberal batters before Divis issued back-to-back walks to open the ninth. After a bloop single loaded the bases, Drew Marufo entered and got a strikeout but Aiden Shepardson’s fly ball to center scored the tying run.

After hitting the leadoff batter in the 10th, Marufo got Connor Emmet to ground into a double play but but Blake Dickman followed with a double then Shane Sirdashney hit a bloop single to center to break the tie.

Jarrod Belbin and Hernan Yanez hit back-to-back one-out singles in the bottom of the 10 th but with runners at the corners Max McGuire popped out on a failed safety squeeze. Jimmy DeLeon walked to load the bases but Trey Goodrich (3-0) struck out Drake Angeron to end the game.

Marufo (0-1) pitched the final two innings and suffered the loss.

The Larks are have the next two days off before opening a four-game road swing Thursday in Wellington.