After taking a few moments to walk off a ball fouled off his left ankle Thursday afternoon, Class AA Missoula Mavericks second baseman Kendal Maier doubled in a run, then later added a three-run homer in leading the Mavs to a tidy 8-3 Western Conference victory over the Medicine Hat Moose Monarchs at Lindborg-Cregg Field.
“He's a stride and swing kind of guy, then he fouls one off his ankle and then he can't put all that weight on his front side,” said Missoula manager Brent Hathaway after his club bumped its league record to 11-1 and 41-16 overall. “So then he doubles and homers ... Lesson learned.”
Griffith was staked to a 2-0 lead after third baseman Brendan Brown's RBI single in the first and Maier's run-scoring double in the fourth. But Dustin Thompson and Cullen Bradshaw followed Nunweiler's single with back-to-back doubles to tie it at 2-2.
The Mavs responded with a three-run bottom of the sixth, highlighted by Ben Roberts' two-run double, and three more in the seventh courtesy of Maier's fourth homer of the season.
Griffith got the win and improved to
5-1, throwing six innings and surrendering two runs on three hits. Despite throwing first-pitch strikes to only nine of the 21 hitters he faced, Griffith fanned four and walked just one.
“Yeah, I guess you could call (Griffith) wildly effective,” Hathaway said. “I mean really, his ball was up most of the day and his curveball was flat.”
Left-handed reliever Lincoln Mansch followed Griffith and escaped a jam in the eighth before loading the bases without recording an out in the ninth. Hathaway called for Drew Lytle from the Missoula pen and he quickly induced a 6-4-3 double play before getting Connor Bradshaw to ground out to short to end it.
Taylor King singled twice and walked twice from his leadoff spot in the Missoula order, while Brown upped his team-leading average to .424 by going 4-for-5 with an RBI. Maverick right fielder Taylor Nordby added three singles in Missoula's 15-hit afternoon.
Medicine Hat starter Kyle Telke was tagged with the loss. He pitched a solid 6 2-3 innings, allowing four runs on 10 hits while walking two and striking out three. The Moose Monarchs were led offensively by Cullen Bradshaw, who went 2-for-3 and Brandon Anhorn, who finished 2-for-4.
“Overall, we're happy with the win,” Hathaway said. “Obviously we played better today than we did yesterday. We had more energy, our pregame preparation was better ... I thought we had a better day. We were finally able to extend our lead, so it wasn't just a one- or two-run game.”
The Mavs see more conference action Saturday when they travel to face the Great Falls Stallions for a nine-inning contest at 5 p.m.
Med. Hat 000 002 001 - 3 7 0
Missoula 100 103 30x - 8 15 0
Kyle Telke, Dave Calham (6), Cullen Bradshaw (8) and Austin Fruson. Shawn Griffith, Lincoln Mansch (7), Drew Lytle (9) and Andy Freeman. W - Griffith (5-1). L - Telke.
MEDICINE HAT - Bradshaw 2-3, Mitchell Frey 0-4, Lee Fruson 1-4, Kyle Fruson 0-4, A. Fruson 0-3, Brandon Anhorn 2-4, Katlin Nunweiler 1-2, Ruley Arnott 0-3, Dustin Thompson 1-3, Connor Bradshaw 0-1.
MISSOULA - Taylor King 2-3, Ben Roberts 1-5, Brendan Brown 4-5, Sean Dwyer 1-4, Sam Sopko 0-3, Matt McMann 0-1, Cody Burgmeier 1-4, Taylor Nordby 3-4, Kendal Maier 2-4, Freeman 1-4.
2B - Cu. Bradshaw, Thompson, Roberts, Maier. HR - Maier (4). RBIs - Cu. Bradshaw, Thompson, Roberts 2, Brown, Maier 4, Freeman.
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