Momentum can change in a hurry in baseball.
The Jefferson City Renegades had won three games in a row and were three outs away from a fourth straight win Tuesday. But the St. Joseph Mustangs rallied in the bottom of the ninth to halt the win streak.
That carried over into Wednesday’s doubleheader, as the Renegades struggled offensively and dropped both games to the Carroll Merchants at Vivion Field, losing 7-0 and 3-2.
“We didn’t bounce back,” Renegades coach Mike DeMilia said. “We just showed up and went through the motions. That’s why we got beat.”
Giving up four runs in the bottom of the ninth to the defending MINK League champions made for a long bus ride home Tuesday night.
“We were definitely still in a fog,” DeMilia said. “We got home late last night, we got an early start to the day and our guys are feeling a little sorry for themselves.”
Jefferson City had a baserunner in each of the seven innings in Game 1 of Wednesday’s doubleheader, but only one runner made it past second base.
“We didn’t compete real hard, we weren’t ready to play,” DeMilia said. “That was my fault.”
But the Renegades’ defense helped keep the game scoreless through three innings.
An outfield assist from left fielder Cole Weaver in the first inning kept Carroll’s Parker Ingram from stretching a single into a double. Second baseman Colby Ott started a double play to end the second inning, stranding another Merchant on base.
Then, in the third inning, Renegades pitcher Caleb Caraker made a kick-save on a ball hit back up the middle, deflecting it to shortstop Jackson Lovich, who then made the throw to first base for the out.
“I thought Caleb threw well,” DeMilia said. “He gave us a chance to win.”
Caraker struggled a bit the first time through Carroll’s batting order, then retired the first five batters he faced the second time through.
“He made adjustments,” DeMilia said. “Their hitters were kind of on him, but he threw a few more offspeed pitches earlier in the count and he really spotted up his fastball nicely.”
In the fourth, Hunter Reid singled into left field, scoring Jordan Matthewson to give the Merchants a 1-0 lead.
Ingram hit a solo home run -- his seventh of the season to lead the MINK League -- to left field in the fifth to double Carroll’s lead.
The Merchants then used a five-run sixth inning to pull away to an easy win in the opener.
“The third time around, they started to get to (Caleb),” DeMilia said. “Their hitters were making adjustments, but also, he was getting tired.”
Matthewson hit a two-run home run down the right-field line, Michael Alt hit a two-run single down the left-field line and Ingram doubled into the left-field corner to score another run in the sixth for Carroll.
Caden Johnson, the Merchants’ starting pitcher, threw six scoreless innings to earn the win. He struck out four and walked two, scattering four hits.
“Their pitcher was pretty good,” DeMilia said. “He threw pretty hard and from over the top. He was tough to square up, but when we did, we had a couple good things happen.”
Johnson got out of trouble in the fourth with an inning-ending double play. Then, in the sixth, Lovich doubled down the left-field line and Brennan Perkins walked, giving the Renegades another scoring opportunity.
But Wagner lined into a triple play, as Reid caught the line drive, stepped on the first-base bag for the second out and threw to second base to double off Lovich for the third out to end the inning.
“The double play, we couldn’t really do much about that,” DeMilia said. “The triple play, we’ve got to see the ball through there. We had some bad luck, but we didn’t put a lot of good at-bats together.”
Renegades center fielder Ty Wilmsmeyer threw out Danny Schweitzer attempting to score to end the top of the seventh, as the throw to home plate beat Schweitzer by about four steps.
“Right when he came up throwing, you knew as long as it was on line, they were in some trouble,” DeMilia said of Wilmsmeyer.
Caraker struck out two and walked two in five-plus innings.
Ian Nolph, who played first base for the first six innings, pitched the seventh for the Renegades.
“If he’s going to continue getting outs for us, we’re going to keep putting him out there,” DeMilia said.
In Game 2, Carroll (12-12) scored two runs in the second inning and one in the fifth. Jefferson City scored its first run in the bottom of the fifth, snapping a streak of 16 consecutive scoreless innings.
The Renegades plated their other run in the bottom of the seventh.
Jefferson City (9-12) plays tonight at Clarinda. First pitch is at 7 p.m.