Tiger nine win three out of four for the week

The Mountain Home Tigers had a good week of baseball, taking three of four games they played last week.

Tigers 7, 10

Buhl 3, 0

The Mountain Home Tigers came through with some good defense Tuesday as they took two games from the visiting Buhl Indians.

The Tigers were outhit, 9-5, in the first game, but made the most of their scoring opportunities, overcoming a 2-0 deficit with three runs in the fourth and four more in the fifth to win, 7-3.

Eric Christiansen got the win, pitching into the seventh inning before Jake Hiler came in to close it out.

John Murdorf had a pinch-hit two-run single that helped break it open in the fifth inning, and Jordan Cisna had an RBI single. Alex Hoffman, Chris Rau and Jake Hiler also had hits, and Cal Viver and Eric Christiansen had RBIs.

Gabe Anderson threw a one-hit shutout in the second game and got great defense behind him as the Tigers won in five, 10-0.

Brock Morris and Cal Vivier both had two doubles, Morris had three RBIs, Vivier, one. Jordan Cisna had two hits including a triple, and Jake Hiler had a two-run triple. Zane Bundy had an RBI single, and Gabe Anderson also had a hit.

Tiger baseball coach Travis DeVore was pleased with the sweep.

"We started out a little bit slow, seemed like a little unfocused, which has definitely been the demon we've been battling this year, and then they turned it on.

"I'm real proud of the effort, especially the way the game finished defensively, Brock (Morris) making good plays at shortstop, Chris Rua coming and getting that ball at third and Gabe just throws a heck of a game.

"I know our bats are going to come around, they always do, and we're going to get there, we just need to focus a little bit more, and that shows up in base running and defense, and that little lead we gave them in the first game, that was what that was all about, but nothing but positive things to say from those first couple of innings on.

"Eric (Christiansen) threw a great game for his second start on varsity.Gabe's just been getting big outs for us when he's on the bump, so the pitching's really been getting it done, and it's nice to have a guy like Jake (Hiler) that can come in and close one out when our pitcher does get tired."

Tigers 5, 5

Knights 6, 4

The Mountain Home Tigers battled back to beat Bishop Kelly, 5-4, Friday in Mountain Home, to earn a conference split with the Knights, who had edged the Tigers, 6-5, Thursday at Bishop Kelly.

In Thursday's game at Bishop Kelly, the Tigers looked like they might have a big inning in the first when the first two batters walked, but had to settle for one run which scored on an error, as Knights starter Nico Lytle fanned the final two batters to end the inning.

Bishop Kelly got to Tiger starter Chris Rau for two runs in the first, only one earned. Rau gave up solo home runs in the second and third, as the Tigers trailed 4-1 after three.

John Murdorf and Eric Christiansen led off the fourth with singles -- the first two hits off Lytle -- and Ricky Baker reached on an error to load the bases. Lytle walked Ricky Lee to bring in one run, and Cal Vivier singled in another. David Nathan came on in relief for Bishop Kelly, but before the inning was over, Mountain Home had scored four runs to take a 5-4 lead.

A Mountain Home fielding error in the Knights' fifth inning led to two runs, as Bishop Kelly regained the lead, 6-5.

Brock Morris and Jake Hiler drew walks to lead off the Tigers' sixth, and Chris Rau was hit by a pitch to load the bases with nobody out, but David Nathan settled down and got a pop-up sandwiched in between two strikeouts to get out of the inning without Mountain Home scoring, and the Knights went on to win, 6-5.

Coach DeVore was disappointed with the play of his Tigers in the loss.

"We had every opportunity to win that game. It was a matter of who was going to commit the least amount of mistakes. It may have been a close ballgame in the books, but I certainly don't think it was well played by either side.

"I thought Chris Rau did a good job (pitching) all game. We booted it a little bit and hurt him and made him throw some extra pitches, but I certainly feel like that was a game we should have won.

"We've just got to keep getting better and keep getting more excited to play this game. We've come out a little passive each game, and it's kicking us right now."

Mountain Home managed just four hits in the game. Cal Vivier had an RBI-single, Ricky Baker had a double, and John Murdorf and Eric Christiansen also had hits. Jake Hiler, Ricky Lee and Chris Rau had RBIs.

Rau suffered the loss, with just three of his six runs being earned. Gabe Anderson pitched a scoreless inning of relief for the Tigers.

In Friday's game at Mountain Home, errors plagued both teams, and overshadowed good pitching efforts by both ball clubs.

Errors helped the Knights score three runs in the top of the second off Tiger starter Jake Hiler.

Mountain Home got one run back in the bottom of the inning, and added four more runs in the third to take a 5-3 lead.

Bishop Kelly added another unearned run off Hiler in the fourth to cut the Tiger lead to 5-4. Neither team scored the rest of the way, as the Tigers handed the Knights their first conference loss of the season.

Ricky Baker and Jake Hiler both had two hits, Baker had a double and two RBIs. Eric Christiansen had an RBI-single and Jordan Cisna also had a hit.

Jake Hiler picked up the win, the second against three losses for the Tiger lefty. Gabe Anderson pitched a scoreless seventh to get the save.

"That was good win. I was really proud of the kids' intensity," said Coach DeVore after the game. "Jake threw a good game and he didn't have his best stuff today, he was missing down on his fastball and up with some of his off-speed, but he definitely pitched good enough to keep us in the game.

"By my tally, none of those runs were earned. We dug ourselves a hole a little bit early in the game, but obviously stepped it up at the end, rolling that nice double-play. It's nice to have a kid like Gabe Anderson come in and be able to close the door, and he did that last night in a one-run game, so we knew we could go back to him.

"We had some clutch hits. Ricky Baker had some good hits for us -- he had a ball that would have been out of any other park except ours."

The win improved Mountain Home to 3-3 in conference play and 6-7 overall. The Tigers host Columbia on Thursday and travel to Columbia on Friday. The Wildcats, who won the state title last year in their first year of existence, are 6-0 in conference to date. Both games have a 5 p.m. start.