Walks, errors bite Scott City baseball team vs. Poplar Bluff

~ Scott City dropped a 17-14 slugfest to Poplar Bluff

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. -- Scott City's defense let down the offense Monday.

Poplar Bluff scored three unearned insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth inning then held off the Rams 17-14.

"We hit the baseball hard, no doubt about it," Scott City coach Lance Amick said. "Today was a slugfest."

Brett Dirnberger had four hits, including a two-run home run, and scored four times. Five more Rams had two hits each.

Scott City (9-8) had more hits than Poplar Bluff (6-8), but the Rams issued more walks and a pair of two-out errors in the sixth allowed the Mules to extend a four-run lead.

Of the eight walks issued by Scott City pitchers, five came around to score and three of those were to start an inning.

"There's no excuse for walking people," Amick said. "If Bluff hits the ball like they do every time, you can live with that. But walks are frustrating and the errors are even more frustrating."

Poplar Bluff allowed just two walks but committed six errors.

"I told the guys you've heard of winning ugly, that was it," Mules coach Stan Bullington said. "We've been losing pretty an awful lot, so we'll take that one."

Logan Faith and Quinton West hit home runs and both drove in four for Poplar Bluff, which scored 18 runs in its previous game.

Scott City scored first on Jamie Brant's two-run single and an RBI double by Heath Pobst in the first inning. But Faith's three-run homer put the Mules ahead 4-3 in the bottom half.

The Rams scored three in the second, including Dirnberger's homer to straightaway center field for a 6-4 lead. After the Mules cut the lead to one, Ryan Fortner's sacrifice fly got the run back, and an error allowed the Rams to go up 8-5.

"Bottom line is we hit the baseball well," Amick said. "We put a lot of good swings on pitches and got some extra-base hits."

Poplar Bluff tied it in the third with three runs, but the Rams answered with consecutive RBI singles by Alex Eichhorn and Pobst for a 10-8 lead.

The Mules pulled ahead for good in the fourth after consecutive walks to start the inning. Kyle Nelson's single to right field scored both runs to tie it, and Brad Dorr later singled to left for an 11-10 lead.

Poplar Bluff kept Scott City off the board in the fifth, the only half inning in which neither team scored, thanks to a double play. West's homer in the fifth put the Mules up 14-10 before a pair of two-out errors in the sixth extended the lead to 17-12.

Scott City brought up the tying run in the seventh with two outs but a ground- out ended the game.

"That's been our story all year long," Amick said. "We've hit the ball against everybody we've played, but we can't put all three phases together on the same day, and a lot of times it's only one phase."

Scott City 332 202 2 -- 14 15 2

Poplar Bluff 413 333 x -- 17 14 6

WP -- Quinton West. LP -- Ryan Block. HR -- Brett Dirnberger (SC). West (PB). Logan Faith (PB). 2B -- Zach Dobbs (PB). Chris Limbaugh (SC). Dirnberger (SC). Alex Eichhorn (SC). Heath Pobst (SC). Multiple hits -- Scott City: Dirnberger 4-4, Landon Robert 2-4, Jamie Brant 2-5, Eichhorn 2-5, Pobst 2-4, Forrest Copeland 2-4; Poplar Bluff: Faith 3-4, Charlie Kayser 2-4, Chance Berry 2-3, Kyle Nelson 2-4, West 2-4, Dobbs 2-3. Records -- Scott City 9-8, Poplar Bluff 6-8.