WICHITA, Kan. – The Jets were firing on all cylinders Saturday afternoon, winning both games to open this weekend's four-game series against Southwest Minnesota State.
Newman (8-2) saw Lucas Schauer record his third straight complete-game victory, in a dominating 13-0 win in the first game of the day. The Jets pitching and hitting continued to be too much for the Mustangs (0-2) in the second game of the day, beating them 12-2.
The first two innings of Game 1 belonged to both pitchers, with only one hit coming in the bottom of the second. Things changed quickly though as the Jet bats came alive in the bottom of the third. Nick Griffin started off the inning with a single to right field. The next two at-bats were bunts by Jacob Hamerle and Lucas Norton to load the bases.
Tyler Bugner walked the next at-bat, scoring Griffin for the first run of the game. Aaron Mack was the fifth batter of the frame, singling to center field and scoring Hamerle to make it 2-0. Next, Garett Thomas doubled to left center to score Norton and Bugner, moving Mack to third and doubling the score to 4-0.
The batting clinic continued as Jordan Doan sacrificed flied to left to score Mack from third, making it 5-0. Craziness ensued when Brian Canfield singled to third base, beating out the throw, then Thomas rounded third heading home and the first baseman threw a bouncing ball to the catcher which scored Thomas to make it 6-0 and advanced Canfield to second.
The Jets went on to score three more runs in the bottom of the third. Hamerle singled to center to bring in Canfield and then Norton doubled to deep center field to bring home Griffin from second and Hamerle from first to make it 9-0 after three complete innings.
Schauer continued to control the game from that point on. He finished the day by only giving up one hit, one walk, one hit by pitch and striking out 10 Mustang batters. The Jets added four runs in the bottom of the sixth by Mitchell Beaudreau doubling to left to score one, Doan doubling to left to score two runs and Griffin lifting a sacrifice fly to left to score the last run of Game 1.
Game 2 had the same recipe as Game 1 did, with astounding pitching coming from Dylan Porter and effective hitting from the team as a collective unit. The Jets scored one run in each of the first three innings. Thomas singled in the first to bring home Bugner, Canfield sent a solo shot over the left-center fence in the second and Mack sacrificed flied to left to score Bugner in the third.
The Jets found their groove in the bottom of the fourth, scoring six runs. Doan scored the first run of the inning on a throwing error by the first baseman to his pitcher covering first base. Norton singled to left to drive in the second run of the inning.
The relief pitcher that came in to try to solve the Mustangs problems only made it worse by giving up back-to-back home runs on his first two pitches with a three-run no-doubter to right field from Bugner and a solo shot from Mack to make it six runs in the inning and a 9-0 lead after four innings.
Porter went six complete innings giving up one run from a solo home run in the sixth inning, five hits, one walk and striking out seven Southwest Minnesota State batters to improve to a 2-0 record.
Newman added three runs in the bottom of the sixth. Doan hit a blooper behind the shortstop that scored two runners and Canfield singled to right field to drive in the last Jet run of the day.
Ryan Jenkins came on in relief for Porter to close out the top of the seventh and gave up one run but it was still enough to ensure the 12-2 run-rule win for Game 2 of the four game series.
Bugner finished the day going 4-for-5 with one double, six runs, three walks, one stolen base, four RBIs and his first home run of the season. Mack went 3-for-6 with one double, one home run, three runs and three RBIs. Doan went 3-for-7 with one double, two runs and five RBIs to lead the team for the day. Thomas went 2-for-4 with one double, three runs, four walks, and three RBIs.
The Jets close out the four-game nonconference series against Southwest Minnesota State with another doubleheader Sunday at 11 a.m. at McCarthy Field, where the Jets will look to extend their seven-game winning streak.
