Tigers upend Lancers in slugfest

The baseball park at McQueen has long been known for producing all-out offensive battles with its shallow outfield and gusts rushing straight out.

Both schools came out swinging in full force Tuesday afternoon as Douglas and McQueen combined for 33 runs and 27 hits as the Tigers escaped in a slugfest with a 17-16 victory over the No. 5 Lancers.

Sophomore Tyler May, making his first appearance of the season on the mound, picked up the win while striking out three and helping himself out at the plate with a 2-for-3, two-RBI performance.

Nate Whalin had his second home run of the year and Willie Morgan hit his first career home run while tying for the team lead in RBIs on the day with three.

Ryan Pruitt continued his consistent play at the plate with a 3-for-4 day including a double and three RBIs.

Phil Mannelly also collected three hits and had a double and one RBI and Jordan Hadlock, Niko Saladis, Cory Eilers and Wyatt Graham each had one hit.

McQueen jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first, but Douglas came back with five runs in the second and seven in the third, giving the Tigers a 12-3 lead heading into the bottom of the third.

The Lancers responded with four runs in the bottom of the third and two in the bottom of the fourth to close the score to 12-9, but Douglas posted another four-run frame in the top of the fifth to go up 16-9.

McQueen came back with four more runs in the bottom of the fifth to close to 16-13 and after Douglas was able to plate what would end up being the deciding run in the top of the sixth, the Lancers brought three more across in the bottom of the sixth to make it close with one inning left.

Jordan Hadlock, who has been Douglas' primary closer early in the season, started the seventh on the mound and Nate Whalin later came on to close it out to earn his first save of the season.

Douglas improved to 6-3 on the year and McQueen dropped to 7-3.

-- Joey Crandall can be reached at jcrandall@recordcourier.com or at (775) 782-5121, ext. 212.