Walks were a killer for the Owensboro RiverDawgs against the Dubois County Bombers, leading to a 4-2 victory for the Bombers, thus ending Owensboro’s season.
Both teams held each other scoreless through the first three innings of play, until Dubois County struck while the iron was hot in the top of the fourth.
A walk and an error to lead off the inning quickly had the Bombers in business, with a single from Ben Wilcoxson later loading the bases with one out.
Brayden Busch allowed one run via walk, but managed to avoid a monstrous inning to leave Dubois County up just 1-0.
The Bombers got to Busch again in the top of the sixth, as a walk and back-to-back singles gave them a 2-0 lead and ended Busch’s day.
Busch had allowed three earned runs—allowing four total—with six walks in five innings on the bump. Westin Stutzman came in to replace him, but didn’t have much luck himself.
Stutzman walked the first batter he faced to make it a 3-0 game, before Guy Lipscomb grabbed a single of his own to make it a 4-0 Dubois County lead.
The RiverDawgs were able to work out of the inning, catching a runner stealing and then turning a double play, looking to shift momentum their way.
Things seemed to be turning in their favor as well thanks to some two-out magic in the bottom of the seventh.
Steven Diaz singled with two outs and advanced to second after Ben Clark was hit by a pitch the following at-bat.
Kail Hill connected on a line drive to center shortly after, clearing the bases to cut Owensboro’s deficit to 4-2.
However, the bullpen came to relief Tyler Wheeler in the eighth and they never looked back. Weston Allen struck out two out of the three batters he faced in the eighth and Matt Moore shut the door in the ninth to seal the 4-2 victory.
The RiverDawgs were unable to string hits together for offensive production in both games, combining for a total of five runs opposed to the Bombers’ 17.
The loss cuts Owensboro’s season short, thus giving them an overall record of 22-24 to close out the 2021 campaign.
