The goose egg is gone for the Perry baseball team, who rallied from deficits of 3-0 and 4-1 for a 7-4 win over Carroll at Progressive Field Wednesday.[wpedon id=”82220″ align=”center”]
Senior Austin Carpenter overcame a shaky start to pitch six solid innings, allowing four runs on eight hits and three walks but striking out 11 and stranding nine runners on base.
Devin Baack walked to start the game, stole second and scored on a Kayd Nissen single. Nissen scored when Slade Sibenaller doubled, with a wild pitch later in the inning scoring Sibenaller for a 3-0 Tiger lead.
Junior Kaleb Olejniczak cranked a solo home run to open the bottom of the frame, cutting Perry’s deficit to 3-1. The four-bagger was the first of Olejniczak’s career.
Sibenaller was back at it in the third, singling and stealing second before scoring on a Ryan Johnston base hit for a 4-1 Tiger advantage.
Perry (1-3, 1-0) finally broke through against Baack in the fourth, which began with a Gavin Boyer single. A walk to Aaron Lockwood followed, with courtesy runner Kyle Lockwood thrown out at the plate while trying to score on a Justin Stammer single.
Kato Dougan followed with a RBI base hit, with Keghan West driving home Stammer and Dougan with a two-run hit. Olejniczak drew a two-out walk, with a Brandon Kenyon single loading the bases. Carpenter was hit by a pitch, forcing home West, and although a pop-out left the bases packed, Perry now held a 5-4 lead.
Aaron Lockwood doubled for the Jays in the fifth. He scored on a Stammer hit, with two steals putting Stammer at third, from where he scored on a throwing error while stealing for a 7-4 Bluejay lead.
Boyer finished with two doubles and a single to lead the Perry offense. The senior catcher now has two doubles and a triple in four games.
Carpenter was particularly effective against the 6-7-8-9 batters in the Tiger lineup. In 14 total plate appearances, the quartet produced two singles and reached once on an error, but were retired on strikes seven times.
Aaron Lockwood tossed the seventh to earn the save. He allowed one hit and one walk and struck out one.
Baack took the loss, yielding five runs on seven hits in four frames. He struck out two batter, walked two and hit two with pitchers while committing a balk.
Nick Haberl pitched two innings, allowing two runs on three hits, one walk and one hit batsman. He had two strikeouts.
Perry hosts Boone tonight before traveling to ADM Friday.
