After falling 9-6 to the Great Falls Stallions in their opener, the Mavs rebounded behind a rock-solid effort from hurler Cody Burgmeier and earned a split with a 5-2 victory in the second game, which was called in the middle of the sixth inning because of snow.
Though the Mavericks allowed five runs in the Stallions' first two at-bats, Missoula clawed its way back to within striking distance. Down 9-4 in the bottom of the seventh, the Mavs brought the potential winning run to the plate before their rally fell short.
Missoula manager Brent Hathaway found little to be disappointed in as the defending Western Division champions made their 2008 debut.
“I'm optimistic that we're going to be a pretty good baseball club,” Hathaway said afterward. “I see a lot of things that I like and I saw a lot of things today that cost us that are easily fixable. I like the way we hit the ball up and down the lineup and obviously I'm real pleased with Bergy's performance in these conditions.”
Cole McPherson stroked a two-out, two-run double off Mavs starter Brendan Brown to get the Stallions (1-3) on the board in the first inning of the opener. McPherson came across on an error before Dan Olinger singled home Alex Waltari in the second. Missoula's second error plated Olinger and suddenly, the Stallions were up 5-0.
An RBI single by Kendal Maier began Missoula's three-run second and Sam Sopko followed with an RBI double to the gap in left-center. Maier finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs.
The Stallions extended their lead to 9-3 on a two-run triple by Aaron Stucker in the third, an RBI groundout by Jake Bleskin in the fifth and a solo homer by Olinger in the sixth.
Maier lined another run-scoring single in the sixth. A single, four walks and three wild pitches in the seventh by Olinger got the Mavs within
9-6 before Sopko popped out with the bases loaded to end it.
“That first game, we were down by five, yet managed to get the winning run to the plate,” Hathaway said. “They battled back real well, then came out in the second game, didn't let the first one affect them and played some pretty good ball.”
Great Falls starter Tanner Bleskin (1-1) got the win in the opener, throwing four innings of five-hit ball, striking out six and walking three. Brown took the loss, working three innings, while surrendering four hits and three walks. He fanned one.
It didn't matter that the Mavs managed only a Taylor Nordby single in the first and a double by Andy Freeman in the fifth inning of the second game. Burgmeier (1-0) needed just 72 pitches to get through six innings and earn the win.
Bleskin's RBI single in the fourth narrowed the Stallions' deficit to 5-1. He later came home on a wild pitch in the sixth, but that was all Great Falls could muster against Burgmeier, who struck out two and walked a pair.
The highlight for the Mavs' offense came in the bottom of the first. With Freeman on first and Nordby on third, Missoula employed a perfectly executed delayed double steal to score its second run.
For Hathaway, the afternoon was all about getting the first two games of the year under his team's belt.
“It does feel good to get this one out of the way,” he said. “You really don't play your best baseball until you can relax and I'm not sure we had a single kid out there who was relaxed. The encouraging thing is that right now, the pitchers should be ahead of the hitters and our guys are hitting already.”
First game
Great Falls 322 011 0 - 9 6 0
Missoula 030 001 2 - 6 10 2
Tanner Bleskin, Dan Olinger (5) and Cole McPherson. Brendan Brown, Jacob Schilling (4) and Sean Dwyer. W - Bleskin (1-1). L - Brown (0-1)
GREAT FALLS - Alex Waltari 0-2, Olinger 2-4, Bleskin 0-4, Bryce Thompson 1-3, McPherson 1-3, Brady Kangas 0-2, Jake Bleskin 0-4, Tyler Stanich 1-3, Aaron Stucker 1-3.
MISSOULA - Kendal Maier 3-4, Sam Sopko 1-4, Brown 1-4, Dwyer 1-3, Taylor Nordby 1-4, Cody Burgmeier 0-2, Schilling 0-0, Anthony Maes 0-0, Ben Roberts 1-4, Cubby Pierre 1-3, Wes Martens 1-1.
2B - McPherson, Sopko, Brown, Nordby. 3B - Stucker, Martens. HR - Olinger (1). RBIs - Olinger 2, McPherson 2, J. Bleskin, Stucker 2, Maier 2, Sopko.
Second game
Great Falls 000 101 - 2 6 2
Missoula 230 00x - 5 2 0
McPherson, Kangas (4) and J. Bleskin. Burgmeier and Andy Freeman. W - Burgmeier (1-0). L - McPherson (0-2)
GREAT FALLS - Waltari 1-3, Olinger 0-2, T. Bleskin 2-3, Thompson 1-3, McPherson 1-2, Kangas 0-3, J. Bleskin 1-2, Stanich 0-2, Stucker 0-2.
MISSOULA - Maier 0-2, Drew Lytle 0-2, Nordby 1-3, Freeman 1-2, Maes 0-3, Roberts 0-3, Pierre 0-1, Shawn Griffith 0-1, Lincoln Mansch 0-1.
2B - Freeman. 3B - T. Bleskin. RBIs - T. Bleskin, Nordby.
Bottom Line
Mavs split with Stallions
Stars: Shortstop/pitcher Dan Olinger hit a sixth-inning solo homer and drove in two runs to lead the Great Falls Stallions to a 9-6 victory over the Missoula Mavericks in the first of two games Saturday at Lindborg-Cregg Field. In the nightcap, called after 5 1/2 innings due to snow, Cody Burgmeier tossed a complete-game six-hitter as the Mavs rebounded for a 5-2 victory.
Up next: The Stallions (1-3) are scheduled to travel Sunday to face the Helena Senators. If the weather holds Sunday, the Mavs (1-1) are slated to go to Hamilton for a doubleheader with the Bitterroot Red Sox.
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