Friday July 21, 2017

Dawgs win a four-hour bout in Melville

By Dustin Saracini

Melville, SK - Following a trio of rain delays, the clouds parted long enough for the (28-11) Okotoks Dawgs to win their fourth straight contest, 8-2, over the (11-29) Melville Millionaires on Friday.

Once the rain stopped, it began on the field. Greg Cullen (Niagara University) wasted no time crushing a 2-2 fastball for his third home run of the season -- his first at-bat after a brief pause for lightning -- before Matt Lloyd (Indiana University) extended his hitting streak to 19 in a tremendous way. His second home run of the Saskatchewan road trip echoed throughout an empty Pirie Field, flying over 400-feet for his seventh blast of 2017.

With a 3-2 lead in the ninth, Cullen would later double his home run total on the year with a three-run shot to put this one out of reach.

Jack Rupe (UC San Diego) put together his second straight quality outing, earning the no-decision. Rupe no-hit the Millionaires through 5 1/3 innings, striking out four. Taylor Davis (Gonzaga Univeristy) came on in relief to preserve the shutout in the sixth, doing so while stranding the bases loaded and ending the Melville threat. Behind him, it was Corey Jackson (New Mexico Junior College) firing a clean seventh inning -- his fifth straight appearance without an earned run.

Melville would get to the Dawgs' bullpen in the eighth inning off two hits -- their first of the game -- tying the contest at two.

The Dawgs, however, would come right back to take the lead in the top of ninth. Ryan Humeniuk (Indian Hills) barrelled a double down the left field line for his seventh multi-hit contest of the season. Darius Foster (Oregon State University) and Brendan Rose (UBC - Calgary, AB) scored Humeniuk with a pair of bunts -- which turned into the game-winning run.

In the end, the tilt in Melville ran four-and-a-half hours.

BY THE NUMBERS:

Jack Rupe (R): 5.1 IP 0 H 0 ER 3 BB 4 SO

Greg Cullen (R): 2-5, 2 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI, .350 RBI

Matt Lloyd: 2-5, 2 R, RBI, .417

OF RECORD:

WP: Brennen Lauffenburger (3-0) LP: Keaton Sullivan (2-3)