Baker goes 7 strong in tight loss

After a tight win in the first game of Sunday against St. Francis, the Georgetown Tigers turned to one of their strongest arms for the finale in the hopes of a sweep. Chad Baker was on the bump for game 2 and delivered the goods. The bullpen could not hold though as St. Francis scored twice in the 8th for a 4-3 comeback win.

Baker started the game with an easy 1-2-3 bottom of the 1st with no ball leaving the infield. The Tiger offense looked for the lead in the top of the 2nd. With 1 out, Elijah Verge doubled down the left field line. Ever the aggressors on the basepaths, the Tigers looked for the extra 90 feet, but Verge was cut down trying to steal 3rd, ending the threat. Chad Baker returned to the hill in the bottom of the 2nd and struck out 2 of 3 to retire the side in order.

The bottom of the 3rd got off to a similar start for Baker. A strike out and pop up quickly put 2 away. Baker then faced his first trouble. He walked the next batter, who moved to 2nd on a wild pitch. St. Francis then found a seeing-eye single to center that brought the run home for a 1-0 Fighting Saints lead after 3.

Baker returned to form in the bottom of the 4th with 2 more strikeouts and a fly out. A single in the bottom of the 5th was all St. Francis could muster as Baker continued to deal. After Georgetown went 1-2-3 in the top of the 6th, St. Francis was able to get to Baker in the bottom of the inning. 2 singles pushed a 2nd run across to put the Saints ahead, 2-0, after 6.

The Tiger offense finally came to life in the top of the 7th. With 1 out, Keano Suarez laced a grounder to 2nd that the defender could not handle, allowing Suarez to reach. Aidan Jbara then hit a grounder up the middle that the St. Francis shortstop booted. The error moved Suarez to 2nd and let Jbara reach 1st. Elijah Verge then singled up the middle to bring Suarez home and get Georgetown on the board. After a walk to load the bases, Nolan Smith was called upon to pinch hit. The move paid off as Smith laced a single to center. Jbara and Verge came in to score to give the Tigers and Chad Baker a 3-2 lead. In the bottom of the inning, St. Francis put a runner on with 1 out. The next batter lined a ball to Elijah Verge in right field, who made the catch and fired back to first for a 9-3 double play to end the inning.

Georgetown went quietly in the top of the 8th. The Tigers brought on Mason Mortimer in relief of Baker for the bottom of the inning. After retiring the 1st batter, Mortimer allowed an infield single. After a fielder's choice, St. Francis had runners at the corners with 2 down. Mortimer then fired a wild pitch that allowed the tying run to score and the runner at 1st to move up 90 feet. A single to right then followed, allowing the go-ahead run to score. Georgetown got a lead-off single from Aidan Jbara in the top of the 9th but nothing more as St. Francis came away with the 4-3 win to split the doubleheader.

Chad Baker ended with the no-decision despite allowing just 4 hits and 2 runs over 7 innings while striking out 9 batters on 90 pitches.

Georgetown next takes on IU Southeast on Wednesday morning at 11:00am. The game will be played at Legends Field in Lexington.