The Chillicothe Mudcats dropped a MINK League contest at home Thursday night, losing to the Nevada Griffons by a final score of 11-3.
The Griffons, who are last place in the MINK League standing, were struggling coming into the game, and pick up just their second road win of the season, and their fourth win overall.
The Griffons got their good night started early by getting on the board first, scoring two runs, one of them unearned, off of Mudcats starter Josiah Golden. A double by Luke Robinson and a single by Bryce Humphrey helped the Griffons out to a 2-0 lead.
The Mudcats would get those runs back in the third inning though, as an RBI single from Peyton Becker tied the game at two, making it the twelfth straight game where he has registered a hit as a starter. Elian Guzman scored the other run in the inning on a delayed stolen base at home.
The Mudcats would take their first and only lead of the night in the fourth as Hunter Shoulta scored on a wild pitch to make it 3-2 in Chillicothe’s favor, after being hit by a pitch from Nevada’s starter, Bo Hays, at the beginning of the frame.
However, the Griffons would take full control of the game from there, as the Mudcats would not register a single hit in the rest of the game. Hays only allowed three hits in his six innings of work as a starter, and Nevada reliever Isac Elkins pitched three no-hit innings out of the bullpen for Nevada.
The Griffons offense did the damage midway through the game. They would score three runs on two hits in the fifth, two runs on three hits in the sixth, and four runs on two more hits in the seventh. The runs in those innings came off of a different Mudcats pitcher in each inning.
The Mudcats fall to 8-12 in overall play this season, but are 7-11 in the MINK League, and fifth place in the league standings. That’s good enough for the Mudcats to be in a playoff position as they hit the halfway point of the season.
The Mudcats will take the day off Friday before facing off against the Warren County Cropdusters (7-13), who are just a half game behind them in the MINK League standings, on Saturday night. 7:05 is the scheduled time for first pitch, and all the live action from that game and every other Mudcats game this summer will be live on KCHI and kchi.com
