Recap
Eagan, MN — The Blaze didn't finish their regular season finale at Eagan as they'd hoped, losing 6-1. But they have to feel good about how they finished the second half of the season, winning 6 of their last 9 games.
The Blaze defense wasn't as sharp as they've been recently, and that led to some unearned runs, and a deficit they couldn't overcome. The offense was stymied by a hot pitcher for Eagan, Lincoln Berry, who has won all 6 of his decisions this year for the 4th ranked team in the state. There is decent chance that the Blaze will run into the Wildcats again in Sections starting May 31.
The Blaze started junior Asher Giese on the hill, and he looked sharp early. He struck out 4 of the first 8 batters he faced. In the 3rd inning the defense let Asher down, as 2 errors led to 3 unearned runs. A 4-6-3 double play turned by Conner Quimby to Alex Thompson to Ben Meuser prevented the inning from being even bigger for Eagan. Giese went 3 innings, gave up 4 hits, 2 walks, 3 runs (none earned), and struck out 4.
The Blaze offense was quiet all night, scattering 4 hits off Berry. In the 4th inning, Ethan Voss beat out an infield hit, and moved to 3rd on an errant pickoff attempt. He then scored on a wild pitch to plate the Blaze's only run of the night.
The Eagan lead grew to 6-1 in the bottom of the 4th, plating 3 runs on 3 hits and a walk off of reliever Owen Geegan.
Senior Kade Bowar finished on the mound for the black and gold, pitching 2 perfect innings, striking out 3.
The offense was led by Jackson Kieffer, Ben Meuser, Ethan Voss and Conner Quimby who all had 1 hit. Ben Meuser's hit was a double off of the green monster in left field. In the 4th inning he nearly hit one out of the park to straight away center field, but was robbed as the centerfielder somehow caught the ball as he crashed into the wooden fence. It was an amazing catch, and really seemed to take the wind out of the Burnsville sails.
The Blaze finish the regular season with a 7-13 record, 5-13 in the tough South Suburban Conference. Their next game will be on the road Memorial Day May 31 at 4:30 against an opponent to be determined.