Monday, April 7, 2008

Bossier Parish inflicts doubleheader loss on Bulldogs

Bossier Parish inflicts doubleheader loss on Bulldogs


Staff photo by Tanner Spendley Texarkana College’s Gip Hendrix slides into second as the ball gets by Bossier Parish’s Garrett Hammond during the second game of a doubleheader Sunday at Texas High. Bossier Parish swept the Bulldogs, 5-0 and 6-5.
It would be hard to point a finger at any one reason for Texarkana College’s doubleheader loss to visiting Bossier Parish Community College Sunday.

Lack of clutch hitting and pitching, and poor defense all played roles in the 5-0, 6-5 losses at Texas High’s Tiger Field, the second time the Cavaliers have swept the Bulldogs this season.

“We weren’t very competitive, and that’s something I addressed between the games and after the last game,” said TC coach Will Bolt. “Two things you can control are effort and attitude, and I don’t think we did that to the best of our abilities today.”

TC, which has lost six of its last eight games, dropped to 22-17 overall and, more importantly 7-9 in the Region XIV East Zone standings. The Bulldogs trail third-place BPCC (23-16, 10-6) by three games and are in a dogfight with Paris Junior College and Panola College for the fourth playoff berth.

Bossier ace T. J. Forrest, a University of Arkansas recruit, blanked TC in the opener, marking the third shutout in six games for the Bulldogs. Forrest, a hard-throwing right-hander, allowed five hits, struck out six and walked one.

David Phillips gave up just three hits and just one earned run in five innings as the TC defense committed five errors. Thomas Watson was touched for three hits and two runs in the sixth, and Zach Gryder pitched a scoreless seventh.

Lance West had a two-run single and David Morgan a solo homer for the Cavs. Five Bulldogs had one hit each, including doubles by Justin Coats and Dean Malthouse.

Malthouse’s double over the third-base bag followed a lead-off single by Gip Hendrix in the second inning, but the runners were stranded at second and third when Forrest retired the next three batters without the ball leaving the infield.

“To me, that pretty much set the tone for the game,” said Bulldogs coach Will Bolt. “We’ve got runners at second and third with nobody out and guys coming up who had driven in a ton of runs. But we don’t get the job done. I don’t think we had any fight in us after that point.”

Hendrix’s two-run double to right field gave Texarkana its first lead of the day in the first inning of the nightcap. But Bossier Parish scored single runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings off TC ace Jason Chowning, who struggled with his control, walking seven and hitting a batter in 4 2/3 innings. He struck out six and allowed four hits.

Josh Gill came on to get the final out on a back-hand stab by third baseman Thomas Watson, who threw out pinch-hitter Jacob Rhodes with the bases loaded.

The Bulldogs took Chowning off the Hook with two runs in the bottom of the inning. Hendrix tripled home Coats, who had singled, then scored on Malthouse’s double, all coming in the first inning of relief by left-hander Moses Munoz. But the next two batters struck out, standing Malthouse at second.

Two TC errors contributed to Bossier’s three-run sixth that put the Cavs ahead to stay. Joey Ford tripled in one run, then scored on an RBI single by K. W. Smith, who advanced on two wild pitches and scored on one of the errors.

Cody Wilson came on to pitch two scoreless innings, and closer Cory Hill did the same in the ninth.

“Wilson did a great job out of the pen,” Bolt said. “He kept them where they were at and gave us a chance. I thought for the most part, Gill did a good job and, while Chowning didn’t have command of his pitches, to his credit he pitched out of a bases-loaded, no-outs jam in the fourth.”

TC crept within one when David Phillips lofted a solo home run high over the right-field bullpen in the seventh, but the Bulldogs went quietly in the eighth and ninth innings.

Phillips, Henderix and Coats each had two hits for TC, as did Ford and Smith for Bossier Parish.



FIRST GAME

Bossier Parish 001 022 0 — 5 6 0

Texarkana 000 000 0 — 0 5 5

T. J. Forrest and Brannin Hagan. David Phillips, Thomas Watson (6), Zach Gryder (7) and Dean Malthouse. WP-Forrest. LP-Phillips. HR: BP-David Morgan, 5th, none on.



SECOND GAME

Bossier Parish 001 113 000 — 6 8 4

Texarkana 200 020 100 — 5 8 3

Jordan LeGros, Moses Munoz (5), Eric Kirkland (8) and Michael Pettito. Jason Chowning, Josh Gill (5), Cody Wilson (7), Cory Hill (9) and Dean Malthouse. WP-Munoz. LP-Gill. HR: TC-David Phillips, 7th, none on.