Beetles baseball: Alexandria splits pair with Moondogs

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The Alexandria Beetles split their first two games of a three-game series in Mankato behind a strong start from Michael Reed (LSU).

Alexandria lost 10-8 on Monday night before Reed gave his team six solid innings in a 10-2 win on Tuesday. Reed improved to 2-1 in his third start of the summer after allowing just four hits and two runs. He walked four and struck out two. Scott Sanderon of St. Cloud State worked a scoreless seventh and Andrew Busby of Mississippi State didn’t allow a hit over two innings in his Beetles’ debut.

Alexandria led 6-0 after two innings on Tuesday night and never looked back. Second baseman Tanner Vavra had a big game with three hits, three RBIs and two runs scored. Johnny Tolson, Ben Moore, Jared Musgrove and Dylan Raper all added two hits apiece.

Reed’s six innings of work became all the more important after the Beetles were forced to use five different pitchers on Monday night. Ali Simpson of Bethune-Cookman made his Alexandria debut but was lifted after two innings. He struggled with his control, walking four, which led to two runs in the second inning.

Alexandria led 7-4 after three and a half innings but couldn’t keep the MoonDogs off the board. Mankato scored in every inning but the first and the eighth. Rene Martinez took the loss for the Beetles after allowing four runs, three earned, in two innings of work. As a staff, the Beetles allowed 11 hits and seven free passes.

The Alexandria offense gave the Beetles every opportunity to win. They pounded out 14 hits behind a 3-for-5 day from Moore. He doubled and had three RBIs. Matt Beaty also had three RBIs and a double, while Josh Carpenter finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored.

The Beetles were 4-9 going into Wednesday, 5.5 games back of first-place Waterloo in the North Division.

GAME STATISTICS

ALEXANDRIA 420 100 300 – 10 14 0

MANKATO 000 020 000 – 2 6 1

ALEXANDRIA PITCHING – M. Reed – W, 6IP, 4H, 2R, 2ER, 4BB, 2SO; Sanderson – 1IP, 2H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 0SO; Busby – 2IP, 0H, 0R, 0ER, 1BB, 2SO

ALEXANDRIA HITTING – Will Fulmer – 0-3, BB, 1 run, RBI; Beaty – 0-1; Vavra – 3-4, 2 runs, 3 RBI; Tolson – 2-5, 2 runs, RBI; Moore – 2-5, 2B, 1 run, 2 RBI; Jimmy Pickens – 1-5, 2B, 1 run, 2 RBI; Josh Guerra – 1-3, HP, BB, 1 run; Carpenter – 1-4, 1 run; Musgrove – 2-3, 2 BB; Raper – 2-5, 2B, 1 run

ALEXANDRIA 021 400 010 – 8 14 3

MANKATO 022 131 10X – 10 11 4

ALEXANDRIA PITCHING – Simpson – 2IP, 1H, 2R, 2ER, 4BB, 3SO; Matthew Dietman – 2IP, 4H, 3R, 2ER, 1BB, 1SO; Martinez – L, 2IP, 3H, 4R, 3ER, 2BB, 0SO; Jon Reed – 1IP, 2H, 1R, 1ER, 0BB, 1SO; Sanderson – 1IP, 1H, 0R, 0ER, 0BB, 1SO

ALEXANDRIA HITTING – Fulmer – 1-4, 2 BB, 1 run; Tolson – 1-6, 1 run; David Garcia – 2-5, 2 runs; Beaty – 1-5, 2B, 1 run, 3 RBI; Moore – 3-5, 2B, 1 run, 3 RBI; Raper – 1-4, BB, 1 run; Guerra – 1-5; Musgrove – 1-5, 2B; Carpenter – 3-4, 1 run, RBI

Tags: alexandria sports, sports, beetles, baseball