Devils Disappoint in Loss to Crusaders
PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- The Drury baseball team wasn't on top of its game on Wednesday, and St. Joe's and starter Mike Taylor took advantage of the opportunity to earn a 5-3 win at home.Taylor scattered 10 hits through six and two-thirds innings of work before reliever Mike Carpenter came in and struck out senior Tyler Benoit to end the game. The Blue Devils (11-6) had cut the Crusaders' lead down to 5-3 and had one runner on when Carpenter came in for Taylor. Benoit (2 for 3, RBI) had already hit a double and a triple in the game, but Carpenter got him to look at a 3-2 slider to earn the game-clinching strikeout.
"This was an extremely dissapointing performance as a team today," Drury head coach Al Marceau said. "Robert Jutras pitched an excellent game, and we played awful behind him. It wasn't just errors, but our whole mental approach to the game was poor. We made mistakes in the field, on the bases and missed multiple signs. We left runs on the bases all day. To have 10 hits and only score three runs is unacceptable at this point in the season."
Jutras allowed just one earned run on seven hits to take the loss, striking out six batters and walking one over six innings of work. The Blue Devils held a 2-0 lead entering the bottom of the third inning, when St. Joe's (12-5) started a run of scoring five runs combined over the next three frames.
In addition to Benoit, senior Chase Preite and sophomore Cody Primmer also had solid days at the plate. Preite went 2 for 3 with a double, RBI and a run scored, while Primmer added a pair of hits in the game.
Drury next plays at Pittsfield at 4:15 p.m. on Thursday.