The skies were clear of rain on Sunday as the Southwest Outlaws traveled to St. Patrick for another double header weekend.  Unfortunately 90 degree heat and 20+ mile per hour winds greeted them.  

It was a 2:00pm start for the opening game vs St. Patrick Shamrocks.  

Chris Nelson led things off for the Outlaws by opening the first inning with a walk.  Nellie then promptly stole second base.  With two outs a Mike Roth grounder to third produced an errant throw over the St. Patrick first baseman's head, allowing Nelson to score from 2nd.  

Troy Fritz took the mound for the visiting Outlaws.  St. Patrick answered back in the home half of the inning as their lead off hitter Luskey also reached on a walk.  Luskey stole second and reached third on the play as the throw reached center field.  Two batters later Luskey scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Poppel.  

The Outlaws struck again in the top of the second with Jeff Miller leading off the inning with a single.  Ryan Meyer bunted Miller over to second base.  With one out Jeff Appel doubled to left center driving in Miller.  Cory Van Briesen added a single but the Outlaws stranded runners on first and third.  

Fritzy found his groove in the second and kept the score 2-1 Outlaws.  

Sam Baumgartner led of the top of the third with a base hit.  Two batters later Troy Fritz helped his cause by driving Bammy in with an R.B.I. single.  

Fritzy once again preserved the 3-1 lead by pitching a scoreless third.  The inning was highlighted defensively by Outlaws left fielder Jeff Miller.  With one out, Miller ran down a fly ball in left and fired the ball back into the infield doubling off a St. Patrick base runner at first base.  Ryan Meyer also added to the play by somehow getting back to first base and fielding the throw.  

The Outlaws were held scoreless in the top of the 4th, with Chad Wiertzema adding a single.  Wertz was injured on a close play at first base on the play.  

St. Patrick battled back in the bottom of the 4th with a lead off single from Simon.  Fritz book ended strike outs around a walk.  With two outs and 2 more walks St. Patrick plated their second run and Fritz gave way to relief pitcher Cory Van Briesen.  Van Briesen ended the St. Patrick rally by coaxing a bases loaded fly out to left field.  Fritz finished the day pitching 3 and 2/3 innings, striking out 6 hitters and giving up only one hit.  

Outlaws hitters were held in check in the 5th and 6th innings with only three base runners reaching.  Chris Nelson and Sam Baumgartner were plunked in the 5th but left stranded, and Jeff Appel added his second hit of the game in the 6th inning with a single.  Appel was also left on base.

St. Patrick answered with one run in each of the 5th and 6th innings.  The Shamrocks plated an unearned run in the 5th and took a 4-3 lead in the 6th inning.

With one out in the top of the 7th Chris Nelson reached on an error.  Nellie stole second and reached third on a passed ball.  One out later, Travis Schuett reached first on a walk.  Mike Roth then followed with a two out line drive single to left field.  The ball bounced past the left fielder and Nelson and Schuett scored on the play. When it was all over Roth was standing on third base and the Outlaws were up by one.  Troy Fritz then  followed with a walk and Jeff Miller reached on another Shamrock fielding error.  Ryan Meyer singled and the Outlaws walked away with a 7-4 advantage.  

Sore arm and all Sam Baumgartner came out of the pen for the Outlaws in the 7th.  Sammy took over for Van Briesen, Cory's pitching line for the day was 2 and 1/3 innings with 1 strikeout and one earned run allowed. 

Sammy slammed the door and pitched a scoreless frame to earn the save.  Sam struck out 2 and secured  the Outlaws first victory of the 2012 season.  

 

 

The back half of the twin bill was once again a disappointment for the Outlaws.  7 innings of 90 degree heat leading into this one had the boys feeling a little bit flat. 

 

The Outlaws went down in order in the top of the first.  Jeff Miller took the ball and was the starting pitcher for the Outlaws.  The Flames didn't waste anytime jumping out to a 1-0 lead in the home half of the inning with two singles and a walk.  With two runners on Miller worked out of trouble by getting the third out with a strikeout

 

Outlaws hitters battled back in the 2nd inning after Troy Fritz was hit by a pitch and eventually scored on a Flames fielding error.  Miller kept the score locked 1-1, pitching a scoreless 2nd inning and adding two more strikeouts to his total. 

The Outlaws failed to score in the third stranding two base runners after Wertz was hit by a pitch and Sammy Baumgartner coaxed a walk.  Miller once again held the Flames scoreless in the home half and yet again struck out 2 more Faribault hitters.  

Mike Roth provided some fireworks leading off the 4th, drilling a solo home run over the 345 ft. sign in left center field.  The Outlaws 2-1 lead was short lived however as the Flames again answered with 2 runs in the home half of the 4th.  

Roth would later add a single in the 6th inning, but that was the extent of the Outlaws offense for the day.  It was clear the 90 degree temps and two games had taken a toll on the visiting team's energy level.  

The final was 5-2 in favor of Faribault.  Jeffrey Miller had a strong pitching outing for the Outlaws throwing the complete game and striking out 12 Flames hitters.  Miller had two strikeouts in each of the 6 innings he pitched bringing his season total up to 20 in 9 1/3rd innings of work.