04 April 2013

Baseball: Tigers lose Dome opener

The Tigers took their game inside for their season opener, dropping a 5-2 decision to St. Cloud Apollo Wednesday night at the Metrodome.

Apollo broke open a 2-2 tie with three runs off reliever Tiger Parker Holmstrom in the top of the sixth inning to secure the non-conference victory.

Farmington had rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie the game in the home half of the fifth inning when Zach Speikers laced a two-run single to score Jordan DeCroock and Jordan Lugowski.

Tigers starter JD Hinks turned in a solid first outing, giving up just four hits and one earned run in five innings of work. Hinks struck out two and did not walk a batter.

"All in all, the game went pretty well for a first game." coach Mike Winters said. "We had 10 hits, and our two pitchers did a great job of throwing strikes and staying ahead in the count.

"Our situational hitting wasn't good. We stranded nine runners in scoring position. Defensively some untimely errors and missed plays led to our demise."

DeCroock, Speikers, Spencer Merle and Nick Schoening each had a pair of hits to pace the Tigers' offensive attack. DeCroock had the only extra base hit, a double.

Weather permitting, the Tigers will open their outdoor season next Tuesday with a Missota Conference contest against New Prague.