Battle of Rivals as the Marquette Redmen Baseball Team (5) Takes on the Negaunee Miners (0) on Fox Sports Marquette 105.1 & 99.9FM

Marquette, MI – May 6th, 2019 – It was time for the first cross-county battle between the Marquette Redmen baseball team and the Negaunee Miners on Monday night, and both teams were looking at taking home the win. The breeze off of Lake Superior was chilly, but that didn’t seem to bother either team as they took the field for the first inning.

The Negaunee Miners’ pitcher winds-up to deliver to the plate

The Marquette Redmen took the field first, and they made short work of the first two batters. However, the next two batters managed back-to-back infield singles, putting runners on first and second. Despite the setback, the Redmen’s pitcher held strong and struck out the fifth batter in the order to end the top of the inning. When it was the Negaunee Miners’ turn to hit the green, their pitcher seemed to be able to find the strike zone with ease, quickly retiring the first two Redmen batters. Marquette’s next hitter proved to be a bit more of a challenge, but after a long pitch count, he was retired to end the inning tied at 0-0.

Play continued to be lightning-fast as it was a one-pitch out for the first out of the second inning from the Marquette Redmen. Two more quick up-and-down batters immediately ended the Negaunee Miners’ scoring chances in the second inning, and brought the Redmen up to the plate. There was finally some action on the bases when the Miners’ pitcher walked the bases loaded then walked the next batter to bring in the first run of the game. With the bases still loaded, the Redmen batter grounded the ball back to the pitcher who saved a run with a forced out at home plate. The Miners’ pitcher seemed to have broken his confidence with the multiple walks, as he moved the second run of the game across the plate with another walked batter just minutes later. Some nice batting late in the inning allowed the Redmen to score their third run of the game and keep the bases loaded. The fourth run of the game was walked in by Negaunee, but they decided against a pitching change, possibly looking to keep some of their other pitchers rested due to high school baseball pitch-count rules. By the time that the inning finally ended, the Redmen had accrued a huge 5-0 lead due to multiple walks and hit-by-pitches.

A Marquette Redmen player reaches first base on a walk

After a long break from the field, the Marquette Redmen had some room to work with on the scoreboard. It took just three pitches to retire the first batter of the third inning for Marquette, and the Redmen’s pitcher seemed not to be challenged by the long time off the mound in the second inning. A pop-fly put out number two onto the scoreboard, but a throwing error put a runner on first with two away. The first walked batter for Negaunee put two runners on the bases with one in scoring position. Despite the danger, Marquette’s pitcher remained steadfast and struck out the third out of the inning and getting them off the green. At the plate, the Redmen kept up impressive hitting against the Negaunee pitchers as they quickly put runners on first and second with no outs. The Miners’ pitcher seemed to recover some composure after the two hits when he retired two batters with strikeouts to put a fast end to the third inning.

There were only three innings left in the first game of the night’s double-header, and the Marquette Redmen had a hefty 5-0 lead at the top of the fourth. After two fast singles from the Miners, Marquette’s pitcher found his composure and went right after the strike zone, not allowing the Negaunee Miners’ batters a chance to advance the runners. With two runners on the bases, the Redmen’s pitcher issued three strikeouts in a row to save the shutout. The Negaunee Miners took the field for the second to last time in the game, and they had to come up big on defense and stop any scoring chances to keep their deficit at five runs. Luckily, the Miners were on top of their game and retired three straight batters to finish the fourth inning.

Marquette’s Henricksen continues his amazing game atop the pitching mound

Incredibly, the Marquette Redmen’s pitcher, Blake Henricksen, reached double-digit strikeouts after quickly putting away the first batter of the inning. Negaunee’s next batters proved to be much more of a problem, and after a few small mistakes on defense, the Miners were able to load the bases with two outs. However, Henricksen kept up his amazing pitching and retired the last out of the inning for his 12th strikeout of the game to keep their shutout going. Marquette switched over to some more conservative play at the plate, looking to hold onto their lead for the last bit of the game. They were able put two runners on the bases, however, Negaunee came up big on defense and stranded the two runners for Marquette.

The Negaunee Miners had only one inning left to tie the game or take the lead, but the Marquette Redmen were determined to take home the win. Marquette’s pitching duo once again were the highlight of the inning, and Blake Henricksen helped to retire the side to end the game and take the shutout.

Listen LIVE – The Marquette Redmen and the Negaunee Miners face-off in their first meeting of the year in Marquette on Fox Sports Marquette 105.1 & 99.9FM.mp3