The Liberal Bee Jays lost to the Colorado Roughriders 15–14 at Brent Gould Field, walking 17 hitters on a night when the wind was blowing out 30–40 miles per hour. So far in the series, the Roughriders have won all three games. In the series, the Bee Jays have given up 38 runs.
Drew Grego opened the scoring with a line drive home run over the left field wall to give the Bee Jays a 2-0 lead. In the second inning, the Roughriders scored three runs on a single hit, four walks, and one home run. The Riders led Liberal 6-2 after adding three in the third on two hits and three walks. The B.J.s took a 7–6 lead with a five-run third inning. Diego Davis lined a sac fly to center, and Todd Baffa singled home a run. It was 6-5 when Jake Ortega reached on an error with two outs. Liberal took a 7–6 lead when Matt Bernath hit a two-run single to center. In the sixth, the Bee Jays scored three more. Before Jack Ryan and Kyle Sandner hit RBI singles to give the team a 10–6 lead after six, Liberal scored a run on an error. However, the B.J. bullpen struggled. The Roughriders led 11–10 after scoring five runs on four hits and two walks in the seventh inning. In the eighth inning, they increased their lead to 15–10 with four runs on one hit and four walks. Jake Ortega doubled home a run and Diego Davis singled home a run in the ninth to put Liberal ahead 15–12. In the ninth, the Jays made a threat. To start the inning, Drew Grego doubled and Landon Bruce singled. Toff Baffa blasted a sacrifice fly to make it 15–13 after a strikeout and a walk. A 14th run was forced home by back-to-back walks to make the score 15–14. Liberal grounded to first to end the game with the bases loaded, two outs, and a 3-2 count.
Four mistakes were made by the Roughriders. The Bee Jays hit three and walked 17. Eleven was walked by the Riders. Colorado lost against Liberal 16–8. Drew Grego went 3-5 with a home run, two RBIs, and four runs, earning him the title of Epic Touch Player of the Game. Jack Ryan, Landon Bruce, Matt Bernath, Kyle Sandner, and Diego Davis each had two hits.Kyle Sandner, Carson Willis, Jake Ortega, and Drew Grego all hit doubles.
It’s 6-5 for the Roughriders. The Bee Jays are 5-6 in the Rocky Mountains and 6-6 overall. With pre-game broadcasts at 1:15 on 1270 and 92.3 FM, the teams wrap off the series on Sunday afternoon at 1:30. The buyout sponsor is liberal Kenwoth.
