It was a speedy top of the first inning with the Marquette Redmen on defense first. An easy fly ball gave the Redmen their first out of the game, and Eric Johnson made a great catch at short stop for their second out. The final out of the side was a hard hit ground ball for a 4-3 force at first base. Leading off for the Redmen was Eric Johnson, who started off Marquette’s turn at the plate with a single. Their next batter was VandenAvond who was issued a 4-1 walk, putting runners on first and second. A pitch thrown into the dirt got past the Escanaba catcher, and that moved the runners into scoring position at second and third. Jon Jason took first base on a walk, which loaded the bases for the Redmen with only one down. A sacrifice fly from Marquette allowed them to score their first run of the game, and with two outs and runners on first and third, they hoped to continue the scoring. Escanaba’s pitcher issued his third walk of the inning to load the bases again and bring pitcher Brendan Kaski to the plate. The Eskymos’ pitcher regained his composure and managed to strike out Kaski with a beautiful curve ball over the plate.
The Marquette Redmen’s pitcher, Brendan Kaski, quickly got ahead of the first batter from the Escanaba Eskymos with a 0-2 count, but the batter fought hard and was issued a walk to start the second inning. Escanaba got greedy, and tried to steal second base, but a great throw from Brady Wright to second got the runner for the first out. After a second walk, the Eskymos displayed some confusing base running when they again sent their runner to steal second but were caught again by another laser of a throw from Brady Wright (his second pick off in a row). The bottom of the second inning progressed very quickly, with the Eskymos’ pitcher issuing three quick outs to the Redmen.
It seemed to be a pitching-intensive battle between the Marquette Redmen and the Escanaba Eskymos with only one run through two innings. Kaski put another strike out in the books to start the top of the third inning, but four straight balls gave the Eskymos their first base runner. After moving their runner into scoring position, Escanaba was able to tie the game at 1-1 thanks to some great base running on a sacrifice fly. There were two outs, but Escanaba had a base runner on first, but Jake Allard-Soucey made a beautiful catch in left field to end the danger. Peter VandenAvond led off the side for the Redmen, and after starting with a couple of strikes, he managed to draw a walk and give Marquette a runner on first. Next up was Blake Henricksen who swung at the first pitch given to him and drove the ball to shallow center field, moving runners to first and second. A sacrifice hit moved the runner at second over to third base and into better scoring position for the Redmen. A hit and run play scored VandenAvond from third and gave Marquette back the lead. Always aware of the game, Blake Henricksen used his blazing speed to steal third base, but the side was brought down with a strikeout.
The meat of the batting order was ready to take the plate the fourth inning for the Escanaba Eskymos as Brendan Kaski remained on the mound for the Marquette Redmen. The first batter of the inning fell to strikes and the second Eskymos’ batter grounded out for the second quick out. Escanaba’s fifth batter made solid contact with the ball, but Henricksen was able to get under the ball to make the catch and end the side. Defense was the name of the game, as the Escanaba left outfielder made a great catch for the first out of the bottom of the fourth. The second out of the side was conceded on a hard-hit ground ball to the Eskymos’ short stop, and the final out of the inning came from a strike out.
With only two inning left to play, the Marquette Redmen continued to led the Escanaba Eskymos 2-1. Two quick ground balls led to the first two outs of the fifth inning, but Brendan Kaski gave up a walk after a long at bat, putting a runner at first. Brady Wright recorded his third put of the of the game when the Eskymos again tried to steal second base but were caught. The game remained a defensive battle as Escanaba recorded their first out of the fifth inning on a soft ground ball. VandenAvond swung at the first pitch given to him and nailed a liner up the middle for a quick single with only one out. Henricksen made it to first base thanks to a walk, moving runners to first and second for Marquette. A wild pitch moved the runners into scoring position at second and third, and an infield single filled the bases, giving the Redmen a huge chance to add some needed insurance runs to their score. Jakob Peterson recorded an RBI single, tacking-on another run to Marquette’s total. The Eskymos made a smart fielding decision on a ground ball, getting a force out at home plate for out number two of the fifth inning. Unfortunately, the side fell to Escanaba’s strong defense, stranding all the base runners.
Escanaba was down to three outs in the game to make a comeback, but the Marquette Redmen were determined not to let that happen. Brendan Kaski gave up his first hit of the game with a single from the first batter of the inning. The Redmen’s first baseman, Jakob Peterson, made a great stop on a wicked ground ball and tagged first base for the first out of the inning, but the runner was able to advance to second. Escanaba managed to put runners on first and third, and a give and go soon after allowed the runner on first to advance to second. Brendan Kaski was replaced as pitcher by Jon Jason as pitcher due to a high pitch count late in the inning. A huge RBI single (runner advanced to second on error) for Escanaba tied the game up at 3-3 due to a fielding mistake, but a heads up play from J. Jason caught the runner between bases to record the final out of the side. Jake Allard-Soucey was the first batter of the inning for the Marquette Redmen, but he fell to strikes after a battle at the plate for the first out of the bottom of the sixth. With one away, Marquette put a runner on first with a walk, but the second out of the inning was taken when the Escanaba short stop fielded a ground ball and stepped on second for the force. A pop fly was the final out of the sixth inning, meaning that the game would go to extra inning tied at 3-3.
It was a quick couple of outs for the Marquette Redmen as both the first and second Escanaba batters grounded out to the left side of the infield, and a pop up was the final out of the Eskymos’ side. Jon Jason continued to play well and recorded a one out single, putting the winning run at first base. Unfortunately, Jakob Peterson popped out after a great catch from the Escanaba defense, putting the second out of the winning away. The seventh inning ended on a soft ground ball back to the pitcher with the score still all tied up at 3-3.
Moving into the eight inning, Jon Jason was holding strong on the mound for the Marquette Redmen, and Blake Henricksen recorded the first out of the eighth inning on a high fly ball to center field. Out number two was put in the books after a beautiful strike out, and the third out of the side came when Escanaba grounded out for the force at first. Brendan Kaski, the Redmen’s first batter of the side, took a four-pitch walk, and he was advanced to second on a textbook hit and run. There was one away with the winning run on second base, but Escanaba made a great double-play on a shallow fly ball, catching the runner cheating off the tag to end the eighth inning.
The Escanaba Eskymos kicked off the top of the ninth inning with lead off single after a fielding error from the Marquette Redmen’s defense. Escanaba finally managed to pull off their first successful steal attempt and moved their runner to second base. Escanaba’s Craig Kamin recorded an RBI single when he absolutely nailed a pitch out to short right field, and that put the Eskymos ahead of the Redmen 4-3. Marquette seemed shaken by their mistakes, and coughed up their second error of the inning to move runners onto first and third base with nobody out. Escanaba seemed to lose their mind when they gave up a triple play after Henricksen caught a tough fly ball in center field, threw to home plate to catch the lead runner in a pickle for out number two, and got the final out after another base running mistake from Escanaba. Once again, Marquette was down to just three outs to make any kind of resurgence. The first out of the bottom of the ninth was recorded when the Redmen batter nailed a ball directly to the Escanaba short stop. VandenAvond was in the batters box with one away, and he made it to first base thanks to a walk. The tying run was on first base, forcing Escanaba’s pitcher to throw from the stretch which caused a wild pitch, but VandenAvond was unable to advance to second, staying safe at first base. Out number two was put in the books after a ground ball to the short stop gave up the force out for the second. The last out of the game was taken in exactly the same way, with Marquette hitting a ground ball directly to the defending short stop.
Listen LIVE – The Marquette Redmen face the Escanaba Eskymos on the home field Monday night on Fox Sports Marquette 105.1 & 99.9FM.mp3