Looking to even their District 6-4A baseball record with their second win in a row, the Brownwood Lions instead encountered their eighth loss in the last nine games and were forced to split their league series with the Graham Steers after an 8-2 defeat Thursday night at Morris Southall Field.
Coming off an 11-1 road victory over Graham (7-11-1, 1-3) on Tuesday night, in the rematch the Lions (6-16, 1-3) surrendered two runs in the first inning, three more in the third, and the final three runs in the top of the fifth.
Offensively, Brownwood managed to scratch across single runs in the bottom of the third and sixth frames.
In the third, Carter Massey walked with one out but was erased when Wyatt Wolf reached on a fielder’s choice. With two down, Shaxton Simpson singled, then Robbie Robinson reached on a base hit to load the bases. With Garrett Wilkerson at bat, Wolf scored on a wild pitch to shave the deficit to 5-1. Wilkerson was later hit by a pitch, but the Lions left the bases loaded.
Then in the sixth, Blayne Stegemoller led off with a single, Massey followed with a two-out hit and Wolf drew a walk to again load the bases. An RBI bases-loaded walk to Simpson forced home Stegemoller, but again the Lions left the sacks full.
The Lions finished with seven hits to Graham’s six, as Simpson led the way with a pair and Robinson, Stegemoller, Massey, Calder Damron and Daylyn Ansons each contributed one.
On the mound, Harrison Sweaney started and allowed eight runs – four earned – on four hits with six strikeouts and three walks over 4.2 innings. Stegemoller and Massey finished the game, giving up a pair of hits with a strikeout and a walk between them.
The Brownwood defense committed four errors in the contest, compared to one by Graham.
The Lions next host Brock (15-3, 4-0) at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
