By DONN ADAMSON\Daily Journal Sports Editor

Published: Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Updated: Wednesday, April 12, 2006 11:31 AM CDT

PARK HILLS - The Mineral Area College Cardinals lost their second 1-0 ball game in their last three games against the Jefferson College Vikings. The most recent on Tuesday was the first game of a doubleheader which they also lost the nightcap by a score of 11-4. It makes the fourth doubleheader in a row that the Cardinals have lost.

Pitcher Blake Jones gave up only three hits in the game and went the distance for the loss. Dustin Renfrow picked up the win for his six innings on the mound for the Vikings. Derrick Dunne got the save by throwing only three pitches.

Prevailing wind caused the game to be more of small-ball type as it was blowing in from right field at 25-30 mph. Both teams tried all game to scratch out a run against the excellent pitching, but neither was successful until the Vikings found the right combination in the seventh inning.

Botched bunts were common in the early innings as only one runner reached second base before the sixth inning, and that was only by virtue of a wild pitch. The Vikings finally got a sacrifice down in the sixth inning and would get the first runner to third base where he was remained as the third out was recorded.

Three times the Cardinals tried to sacrifice their lead-off runner to second base, and all three times they failed. However, the Cardinals first hit came on a bunt by Seth Kimrey fifth inning, and in the sixth inning Brandon Crook laid one down to advance lead-off hitter Anthony Patton.

Both teams put top effort into their last at-bats. The Vikings went first with Cody Whitehead drawing only he second walk given up by Jones in the game. Designated-hitter Zachary Shy laid a good bunt down to advance Whitehead.

Whitehead reached third on ground ball to the right side of the infield and then on a 1-2 count Eric McDaniel, who had been the scapegoat all game, slapped a pitch to the opposite field in left to score Jeffco's lone run. McDaniel was picked off first by Jones in the second inning and then bunted into a double play in the fifth.

Mineral Area had their chance at the win. The Vikings brought in reliever Wayne Essner, a right-hand submariner, and the Cardinals nearly sunk his submarine pitch.

Joaby Sikes singled to right with one out to start the comeback try. Ryan Blankenship singled up the middle to put Sikes in scoring position, and a wild pitch by Essner put the winning run at second. Essner proceeded to walk Kimrey to load the bases. Both coaches made a switch for the next batter.

The Vikings brought in Dunne to pitch, and Coach Jim Gerwitz sent Nick Eckl to the plate to pinch-hit. Eckl hit a screamer to second which second baseman Michael Rodgers turned into a game-ending double play.

The Cardinals grabbed the early lead in game two, scoring two runs in the bottom of the second on a double by Blankenship, an RBI single by Brandon Crook and the help of two errors by the Vikings.

Jeffco unloaded on Mineral Area's pitching in the fourth and fifth innings. Bradley Mountjoy started the avalanche with a lead-off triple and scored the first of six runs in the inning for the Vikings on a single by Whitehead. Shy followed with a 360' blast into the wind for a home run.

Ryan Hilton took the mound in relief for the Cardinals, and the next three runs came by way of walks, a hit batsmen, a bunt single and a Cardinal error. The Vikings continued the barrage in the fifth with four more runs on four singles, a hit batter and another Cardinal error.

Mineral Area scored their last two runs in the seventh a double by Sikes moved Tyler Stahl, who had reached on a walk, to third base. Blankenship drove in both runners with his third hit of the day.

Mineral Area, 7-27, will play again on Thursday in a doubleheader at Forest Park.

Game One

Jefferson 000 000 1 - 1 3 2

Mineral Area 000 000 0 - 0 5 0

WP- Renfrow 6i 0r 2h 5k 1bb, Essner 1/3i 0r 2h 0k 1bb, SV- Dunne. LP- Jones 7i 1r 3h 6k 2bb.

Hitting: JC - McDaniel 2, Mountjoy. MAC - Crook, Sikes, Blankenship, Patton, Kimrey.

Game Two

Jefferson 000 641 0 - 11 12 2

Mineral Area 020 000 2 - 4 8 2

WP- Swafford 3i 2r 4h 0k 1bb, Theismann 1i 0r 1h 2k 0bb, Sullivan 3i 2r 3h 1k 2bb. LP- Moss 3i 4r 4h 1k 3bb, Hilton 1 1/3i 6r 4h 0k 1bb 2hb, 2 1/3i 1r 4h 1k 0bb.

Hitting: JC - Mountjoy 2, Dickerman 2, Whitehead 2, Shy 2, Talbert 2, Randazzo, Flood. MAC - Sikes 2, Blankenship 2, Crook, Bard, Kimrey, Miller. 2b- Dickerman, Talbert, Sikes, Blankenship, Kimrey. 3b- Mountjoy. HR- Shy.