Everything went according to plan for the Jefferson City Renegades in Game 1 of Friday night's doubleheader against the Ozark Genrerals at Vivion Field.
Dalton Erger pitched all seven innings, the Renegades got hits with runners in scoring position and they broke a three-game skid in MINK League play by defeating the first-place Generals 7-1.
Erger, who entered the game with 15 strikeouts in 10 innings, didn't rely on the strikeout Friday. Instead, he got the help from a flawless defensive effort.
"They can swing it a little bit," Renegades coach Mike DeMilia said of the Generals, who lead the league with nearly eight runs per game. "When you play a team like that you're not going to strike out a ton usually. He definitely pitched a little more to contact, which is what we talked about. We kind of wanted him to have a longer outing and a pretty good pitch count."
The Renegades completed the sweep with an 11-7 win in the nine-inning nightcap.
It didn't appear Erger would be able to last much longer three innings into Game 1. Ozark loaded the bases in the first, but Erger got out of it by freezing the No. 7 batter for a strikeout.
In the second, Erger left two more on base thanks to a flyout after back-to-back two-out singles.
Ozark got on the board in the third when Jett Swetland squeezed a fly ball over the fence in left-center field to tie it at 1.
But Ozark only managed two baserunners after the third inning. Erger retired the side in order in the fourth and fifth, gave up a single in the sixth and walked one in the seventh with two outs.
"They squared up a few balls, but for the most part he was missing barrels and getting ahead of hitters," DeMilia said.
Jefferson City provided plenty of run support, scoring in all but the second inning after scoring three total runs in its previous two games.
"We're a better hitting team than last night for sure," DeMilia said.
Leadoff batter Logan Hudson scored the Renegades' first two runs. He led off the bottom of the first with a double down the left-field line and scored on Quincy Jones' single to right field. Hudson led off the third with a walk and ended up crossing the plate on a sacrifice fly by Jady Reese for a 2-1 lead.
Christian Rodriguez added an RBI single to left and Austin Blazevic made it 4-1 when he was able to go home during Rodriguez's rundown between first and second base.
Mike Million also had two hits, including a solo home run that landed on top of the batting cages beyond the left-field fence in the fourth.
Ozark pitcher Gyeongju Kim got the next three batters to ground out, ending his night on the mound. Kim, who had gone 12 innings without allowing an earned run this season, surrendered five runs on seven hits with three walks and two strikeouts.
Jefferson City added a run each in the fifth and sixth innings off Grant Atwood.
Hudson went 4-for-4 with three RBI in Game 2 for the Renegades. Jake Slunder also went 4-for-4 with an RBI and three runs scored.
Jones added two hits and two RBI for his eighth multi-hit game of the season. Blazevic also had two hits and an RBI.
The win went to Noah Skaggs, who allowed two runs (one earned) on one hit with a walk and three strikeouts in two innings of relief.
The Renegades pulled within a half-game of the Generals in the South Division of the MINK League.
Jefferson City hosts the Sedalia Bombers at 7 p.m. today at Vivion Field.