"This was a tough game, " said Coach Les Willson. "You all tried hard an made some good plays, but the game exposed some weaknesses that we'll be working on in practice."
The first inning saw Alex Haussmann hitting a single, and scoring a run for the Rams, off the bat of Wyatt Featherston. But getting more base runners home proved difficult, and the Rams left Featherston stranded on third.
Right-handed pitcher Jacob Staley worked efficiently through the Bulldogs lineup with a number of strikeouts, pop ups, and ground-ball outs. The Rams sported strong defensive plays by Austin Jones in right field, Arley Anderson at second base, Trevor Willson at first, and Ben McHugh catching a fly ball in deep leftfield that kept the game close.
In the second through fourth innings, the Rams sprayed hits across the field including a singles by Jones, Boyd, Staley, Haussmann and Joe Anderson, and a monster double by Featherston.
In the top of the fifth, the Bulldogs's bats got hot and they tied the game. Relief pitcher Colton Faubion took the mound from Staley to get the final out. At the bottom of the fifth, Anderson drove in Haussmann from second base to retake the lead. Then, the Bulldogs pitcher made a circus catch of a steamer blasted by Featherston and made a double-play to end the inning. Rams 6, Bulldogs 5.
The Bulldogs kept up the pressure and scored three runs in the top of the sixth, bringing the score to Rams 6, Bulldogs 8.
With the game on the line, Jones came up to bat and hit a seeing-eye single to keep the Rams alive. Ben Boyd also smashed a single and drove Jones to third. That set up the tying run for Garrett Storm. With a smooth swing of the bat, he sent both Jones and Boyd home, tying the game at 8-8, and forcing extra innings.
In the seventh inning, the Bulldogs brought what proved to be the winning run home. The Rams batters were unable to pull out the win, and the game ended with the final score Rams 8, Bulldogs 9.
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