Eight was a good number, bad number Monday night for the Jefferson City Renegades.
The good? The Renegades scored eight runs in the bottom of the first inning to take an 8-1 lead against the Nevada Griffons in MINK League action at Vivion Field.
The bad? There were still eight innings to play.
The Griffons whittled away at the deficit, taking the lead with seven runs in the fifth inning. The Renegades tied the game at 15 with four runs with two outs in the bottom of the eighth before the Griffons answered with four of their own in the top of the ninth to take a 19-15 victory in a game that lasted a little more than four hours.
After Nevada converted a leadoff walk into a run in the top of the first, Jefferson City sent 12 men to the plate in the bottom of the inning. Austin Blazevic had a three-run home run in the inning for the Renegades, while Mike Million and Logan Hudson both drove in two runs with singles. Justin McIntyre had the other RBI.
Nevada got two of the runs back in the second, then plated three in the third to make it 8-6. A sacrifice fly by McIntyre made it 9-6 in the bottom of the inning.
Somehow, neither team scored in the fourth.
Nevada then sent 11 men to the plate in the fifth, scoring seven runs to take a 13-9 lead. Blake Faecher had a solo home run for the Griffons in the inning, while Connor Gage capped the scoring with a three-run blast.
Nevada made it 14-9 with a run in the sixth before Jefferson City came back with two in the bottom of the inning on a Blazevic double and a sacrifice fly by Marquise Doherty to cut the Griffons' lead to three.
After a scoreless seventh, Nevada got a run in the eighth to make it 15-11. Jefferson City tied it with four runs in the bottom of the inning - two coming home on a throwing error, the final two on a double by Christian Rodriguez.
The Griffons then sent 10 batters to the plate in the ninth, scoring four times to make it 19-15. The Renegades walked five batters in the ninth as six Jefferson City pitchers combined to finish with 15 walks in the game.
The first five batters in the Nevada lineup had seven plate appearances Monday night.
Jefferson City went down in order in the bottom of the inning.
McIntyre, Blazevic, Millon and Rodriguez all had three hits in a 15-hit Renegades attack.
The two teams will wrap up their three-game series at 7 p.m. today at Vivion Field.