Outlaws Fall to Miners; Win Streak Snapped

By TY

Box Score | Season Stats | Updated Standings

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Nashville Outlaws had its season-high four-game winning streak snapped on Saturday when they fell to West Virginia by a score of 10-6 at Faith & Family Night at Hawkins Field. The Outlaws (21-20 overall, 7-6 2nd half) continued to swing the hot bats Saturday as they combined for 15 hits while scoring only six runs.

After jumping out to big leads on West Virginia the first two games of the series, the Miners had their way on Saturday as they got out to a 7-0 lead before Kevin Smith (LSU-Shreveport) launched his first home run of the summer, a three-run shot into the right-field bleachers to get the Outlaws within four at 7-3.

Greg Bachman (Austin Peay) led Nashville with a four-hit night to raise his average to a season-best .320. Bryan Johns (Vanderbilt) continued his hot-bat with a three more hits and a run scored.

Johnny Amann (Judson), Jack Lupo and Smith all had two hits apiece in Nashville's 15-hit offensive attack. Smith led the way in the RBI department, driving in three, while Amann had two.

Daniel Palo (MTSU) allowed seven runs (six earned) on just five hits while walking four and hitting two in 2.2 innings to fall to 2-3 on the summer.

Steven Murray (TCU) allowed three runs (all unearned) on four hits in three innings of middle relief while Lee Thompson (St. Catherine College) struck out three and allowed just one hit in 3.1 innings of scoreless relief.

Despite the loss on Saturday, the Outlaws have started to gel at the plate and their numbers show that. In three games against the second-place Miners, the Outlaws pounded out 42 hits and scored 27 runs.

Besides the game, musical performances by SonicFlood and Denver Bierman and the Mile High Orchestra and a terrific postgame fireworks show highlighted the second Faith & Family Night of the summer. A crowd of 2,239 attended the day's events at Hawkins Field.

Nashville will now host first-place division leader Terre Haute for two games, starting tomorrow (Sunday) night at 6 p.m.

To secure tickets log onto www.nashvilleoutlaws.com or call the Nashville Outlaws at 615-346-9405.

Outlaws fall 5-2 to Springfield Sliders Sunday

By TY

Box Score

Less than 24 hours after knocking off Richmond on Saturday night, the Outlaws came up short on Sunday, falling to Springfield 5-2 at Robin Roberts Stadium. The Outlaws (1-3) outhit the Sliders 8-7 but failed to record an extra-base hit on Sunday while the Sliders had three.

Nashville took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third when they took advantage of a costly Springfield error for one of the runs before Springfield scored five unanswered to round out the scoring.

Prospect League All-Star, Navery Moore (Vanderbilt) allowed four runs on six hits in five innings to go along with four strikeouts and two walks.

Steven Murray (TCU) allowed one run on one hit in three innings of relief.

Offensively Sunday, Nashville was led by newly acquired outfielder Matt Borgschulte (Western Kentucky) who went 3-for-4 with a run scored in his Outlaw and Prospect League debut. Andrew Brouillette (LSU Shreveport) and Sam Dove (Georgia Tech) both went 2-for-4.

The Outlaws will play against Springfield tomorrow (Monday) night at 6:35 p.m. under the lights at Robin Roberts Stadium. Monday's game marks the second game of what is a six-game roadtrip for the Outlaws.

Click the box score at the top of the page to see the stats of Sunday's game.

Outlaws fall to Dubois County Thursday, 4-3

By TY

Box Score

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Nashville’s pitching staff combined for 15 strikeouts but it wasn’t enough to hold off a late rally by Dubois County as the Bombers broke a 3-3 tie game in the top ninth to edge the Outlaws, 4-3 at Hawkins Field on Thursday.

Thursday’s game between Dubois County and Nashville marked the first game of the second season of the 2010 Prospect League. The Outlaws (0-1) went 14-14 during the first half of the regular season and finished just 1.5 games behind first-place Central Division winner Danville, who finished 15-12.

The Outlaws jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first when they scored two runs on two hits while taking advantage of two walks. Billy Rumpke III (Columbia) led-off the first with a walk and then advanced to second on sharp single to left-field by Sam Dove (Georgia Tech). Kevin Smith (LSU-Shreveport) would then drive in Rumpke from second on a single to center, giving Nashville a 1-0 lead. Following a Greg Bachman (Austin Peay) walk, Ryan McCauley would then ground into 4-6-3 double-play, allowing Dove to score from third to make it 2-0.

Dubois County cut into Nashville’s lead in the top of the fourth when they recorded three consecutive two-out singles, including an RBI-single by Gavin Green before Nashville starter PJ Francescon (Trevecca Nazarene) got DC Legg to fly-out with the bases loaded to limit the threat.

The Outlaws would tack on another run in the bottom of the fourth when Doug Joyce (Florida International) launched his second home run of the season into the bleachers in left-center.

Nashville continued to lead 3-1 until Dubois tied the game in the seventh on a two-out, two-RBI single by Steve Tkowski off of Steven Murray (TCU).

With the game tied at three, the Outlaws struggled to come up with the key hit as they failed to record a hit after the fourth inning.

Dubois County notched its first lead of the game in the top of the ninth when Evan Patterson scored on a single through the left side by Tkowski off Nashville reliever Kevin Crumb (Buffalo).

The Outlaws had one final chance to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth but Dubois’ Ben Bullard struck out two of the three batters he faced to earn his third save of the summer.

Nashville’s pitching staff was sharp once again as Francescon, Murray and Crumb combined for 15 strikeouts. Francescon allowed one run on five hits in five innings with six strikeouts and three walks.

Murray struck out five while allowing two runs on two hits.

Crumb finished with four strikeouts and one walk in two-innings of relief.

The Outlaws will host the Richmond River Rats on Friday and Saturday night at Hawkins Field in Nashville, Tenn. Friday night’s game will start at 7 p.m. while Saturday’s will be at 6 p.m.

Outlaws storm back to beat Miners

By TY

Box Score

BECKLEY, W. Va. – Trailing 2-0 heading into the eighth, the Nashville Outlaws staged its biggest comeback of the season by scoring six runs in over the final two innings to knock-off West Virginia, 6-2 at Linda K. Epling Stadium on Sunday.

With the win, the Outlaws clinched the series (took two out of three) over the Miners while improving to 7-8 overall. After losing four of five games from June 9-13, the Outlaws have now four of its last five games dating back to June 15.

The weekend series win over West Virginia (7-8) concludes a solid week for the Outlaws, who went 4-2 on the week, including a pair of road wins at Richmond on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Nashville trailed 2-0 heading into the eighth as they had five hits and no runs to show for off West Virginia starter Andrew Smith who struck out five in five shutout innings.

The Outlaws got to the Miner bullpen in the eighth though when they sent nine guys to the plate in a 5-run inning. Nashville was aided by two costly West Virginia errors in the inning that led to two unearned runs.

With Nashville clinging to a 5-2 lead heading into the ninth, the Outlaws added one more insurance run in their last at-bat when Greg Bachman (Austin Peay) drove in Sam Dove (Georgia Tech) from third on a two-out RBI single.

For the third time in three days, the Outlaws got another solid start out of its starting pitcher. On Sunday, Daniel Palo (Middle Tennessee) allowed two runs on four hits in 6.1 innings with five strikeouts and three walks to earn the no-decision.

Steven Murray (TCU) picked up the win after throwing 1.1 innings of no-hit scoreless relief while closer Jon Ivie (Belmont) threw a perfect-ninth to earn his league-leading fourth save of the season.

Offensively Sunday, Doug Joyce (Florida International) continued his hot-bat, going 3-for-5 with 2 RBI, a double and run scored. Jack Lupo (Vanderbilt) went 2-for-4 while Johnny Amann (Judson) drove in two-runs on an RBI single in the eighth.

The Outlaws lineup will receive some immediate depth this week as Vanderbilt’s Drew Fann and Bryan Johns are slated to make their Outlaw debuts this week against Hannibal.

Nashville will return to friendly confines of Hawkins Field on Monday when they host Hannibal Cavemen for two games (Monday and Tuesday). Both games will start at 7 p.m.

Click here to order tickets.

photo above by W. Dayton Whittle