Offense Explodes as Pump Jacks Best Bombers

Published on July 18, 2012 under Texas Collegiate League (TCL)
East Texas PumpJacks News Release


Be it offense, defense or pitching, East Texas was strong in all facets of the game on Wednesday night.

Jacob Lindgren turned in his best start of the season by far as the offense backed him immediately with five runs in the first inning en route to a dominating 8-2 win over the Brazos Valley Bombers at Driller Park.

The Jacks wasted no time as the first five batters of the game for East Texas reached base against Brazos Valley starter Brannon Easterling. John Williams led off with a bunt single and was followed by a single to right field by Justin Wall. Then Taylor Murphy hit a sharp ground ball towards second baseman Corey Toups and reached base on the infield single when Toups was unable to come up with the ball. With the bases loaded, R.J. Santigate delivered another infield single, this one to shortstop, beating the throw from Nick Smelser and giving the Jacks a 1-0 lead as Williams scored from third.

After a wild pitch plated the second run of the game, Kash Kalkowski hit the fifth consecutive single for the Pump Jacks to left field to bring Murphy home. When former Pump Jack Brandon Wood had trouble fielding the ball in left, Santigate took the opportunity to follow Murphy to home plate. That made the score 4-0 East Texas, and it was extended to 5-0 when Louie Helmburg fisted an inside pitch the opposite way for a double down the right field line to score Kalkowski.

Brazos Valley was able to get one of those runs back in the second inning to cut the deficit to 5-1, but that was the closest they would get all game long.

The Pump Jacks had runners in scoring position in five of the first six innings against the Bombers, and they broke through for three more runs in the third inning. Tyler Girouard and Charlie Wagner led off the frame with back-to-back singles. After a sacrifice bunt and a strikeout, there were runners on second and third with two outs. Easterling then walked Williams on four pitches to load the bases, and walked Wall on a full count to force in a run and make the score 6-1 Pump Jacks. Murphy then chopped a pitch over the 6'5" Easterling, and the ball died between the mound and second base, bringing home Wagner for a 7-1 East Texas lead.

East Texas would tack on another run in the fifth when Kevin O'Leary led off with a clean double down the left field line and later came around to score on a passed ball, but the Jacks ended up cruising thanks to Lindgren.

The left-hander from Mississippi State threw a season-high seven innings, giving up two runs on six hits (neither of which were earned off of him) with only one walk while striking out a season-high eight batters. The eight Bombers fanned by Lindgren doubled his previous season high, and the seven-inning effort lowered his ERA by almost two full runs.

The Pump Jacks pounded out 14 hits in the ballgame, their second-highest team total of the season and the first time they had recorded that many hits since June 16, when they put up their season-high of 18 against the Acadiana Cane Cutters in a 10-3 Jacks win.

Every single Pump Jacks player finished with at least one hit in the contest, with Murphy remaining hotter than the East Texas summer sun with yet another multi-hit performance in going 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. Santigate, Kalkowski and Girouard all went 2-for-5 with one run scored. The former two also added an RBI as well for East Texas, which improved to 28-10 overall this season, and 16-3 in 2012 at historic Driller Park.

Lindgren (1-3) earned his first win of the season for the Pump Jacks, while Easterling (1-4) took the loss.

The Pump Jacks will head on the road to play the Acadiana Cane Cutters on Thursday night. They will then return home on Friday night to face the Victoria Generals. It is also another Fireworks Friday for Jacks fans, with a postgame fireworks show set to a unique soundtrack presented by SWEPCO and CBS-19.

First pitch for each game is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.

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Texas Collegiate League Stories from July 18, 2012


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