Outlaws defeat Rex; pull within 1.5 games

By TY

Box Score | Standings | Season Stats

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – Taylor Haydel (Western Kentucky) threw seven-innings of two-run ball while eight Nashville hitters recorded at least one hit as the Outlaws defeated the first-place Rex 5-2 at Bob Warn Field Thursday.

With the win, the Outlaws (24-21 overall, 10-7 second half) pulled within 1.5 games of first-place Terre Haute for the second-half title race.

Nashville continued to swing the bat well, as they out-hit Terre Haute 11-6. Greg Bachman (Austin Peay) led the Outlaws with three hits while Kevin Smith (LSU-Shreveport) went 2-for-5 to notch his fourth consecutive multi-hit game. Smith is currently second in hitting in the Prospect League, sporting a .357 average.

The Outlaws jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first thanks to throwing error by the Terre Haute shortstop.

Nashville tacked on three more runs in the fourth as five Outlaws tallied hits in the inning. With one out, Andrew Brouillette (LSU-Shreveport) singled to right and then came home on a RBI-triple by Matt Borgschulte (Western Kentucky) to give Nashville a 2-0 lead. Jared Fancher (TCU) then extended the lead with an RBI single to center, scoring Borgschulte from third. After Johnny Amann (Judson) singled, Drew Fann (Vanderbilt) drove in Fancher with an RBI-single to right to give Nashville a 4-0 lead.

Terre Haute responded with their only runs of the game in the bottom of the fourth, when they scored two runs on three hits to cut Nashville’s lead in half.

The Outlaws got their fifth run of the game as Ryan Emery drew a bases-loaded, two-out walk allowing Bachman, who singled earlier in the inning, to score from third.

Haydel was in command of the entire game on Thursday, allowing just two runs on six hits in seven-innings to improve to 4-2 on the year. The win for Haydel was his second in his last three quality starts.

Jon Ivie struck out two in another scoreless ninth to notch his team-leading eighth save of the season. In 21.1 innings this summer for the Outlaws, the Belmont Bruin is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA. Ivie has 21 strikeouts and just five walks in 21.1 scoreless innings.

Nashville will now travel to Huntingburg, Ind., to get ready for a two-game series with Dubois County. The Outlaws and Bombers will play Friday and Saturday at League Stadium before returning home to the Music City to play each other at Hawkins Field at 6 p.m. Sunday.