Dubois County shuts out Outlaws, 6-0

By TY

Box Score | Standings | Schedule | Season Stats

HUNTINGBURG, Ind. – Gage Daniels struck out seven in eight shutout innings for Dubois County as the Bombers blanked the Nashville Outlaws 6-0 at League Stadium Friday.

With the loss, The Outlaws fall to 24-22 overall, including 10-8 in the second half of the season. Nashville now trails Central Division leader Terre Haute by 2.5 games after the Rex won Friday. Eight games remain in the regular season. The good thing for the Outlaws is six of their eight remaining games will be at Hawkins Field in Nashville.

Ryan Emery (Arkansas State) was one of six Outlaws to record a hit on Friday, leading the team with two hits. Bryan Johns (Vanderbilt), Kevin Smith (LSU-Shreveport), Doug Joyce (Florida International), Ryan McCauley (Niagara) and Matt Borgschulte (Western Kentucky) all had one hit in the loss.

With one hit on Friday, Smith has now hit safely in seven straight games while Borgschulte has hit safely in five straight.

Andy Hillis (Tennessee) took the loss Friday for the Outlaws, allowing five runs on four hits in 1.2 innings. Early the second straight start, Hillis (2-3) struggled to find the strike zone, walking four while striking out two.

Lee Thompson (St. Catherine College) was once again a bright spot for the Outlaws, tossing a season-high 6.1 innings of one-run relief. The southpaw allowed five hits while striking out five and walking three to lower his season ERA to 1.61. Thompson has struck out 21 and walked nine in 22.1 innings since joining the team on June 30.

Nashville will play game two of a two-game series tomorrow night at 7:05 against the Bombers at League Stadium. Following the Saturday’s game the Outlaws will return home to Nashville for the start of their final six-game homestand.

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.

Video: Brian and Jerry Show (Episode 2)

By TY

Nashville Outlaw manager Brian Ryman and pitching coach Jerry Bell are back for another edition of the "Brian and Jerry Show." In this episode, Jerry explains how to properly throw the cuban forkball. Outlaw pitcher Andy Hillis also makes an appearance.

In case you missed episode 1 you can watch it by clicking here

Dans rally in ninth; edge Outlaws, 6-5

By TY

Box Score | Standings | Season Stats

DANVILLE, Ill. – Trailing by one and down to its last out in the bottom of the ninth, four consecutive Danville batters reached base, including two via extra-base hits as the Dans rallied to knock-off Nashville, 6-5 at Danville Stadium Wednesday.

With the game tied at four, the Outlaws scored one run on three hits in the top of the ninth to take a 5-4 lead heading into the final half inning.

Nashville’s PJ Francescon (Trevecca Nazarene) retired the first two Danville hitters via strikeout in the bottom of the ninth before Jesse Tierney doubled. Following the Tierney double, Alex Edward drove in Tierney with an RBI-triple and tying the game at five. In the next at-bat, Jake Huxtable’s two-out RBI single off Francescon allowed Edward to score from third base for the game’s winning run.

The Outlaws out-hit Danville 13-9 but committed three errors in the field, including one that led to an unearned run. Offensively, Doug Joyce (Florida International) led Nashville with three hits and four RBI in five trips, including a first-inning three run homer. The home run for Joyce was his team-leading fifth of the season.

Greg Bachman (Austin Peay), Kevin Smith (LSU-Shreveport), Matt Borgschulte (Western Kentucky) and Ryan Emery (Arkanas State) all had two hits on Wednesday.

Austin Bridgewater (Carson Newman) made the start for the Outlaws on Wednesday, allowing three runs on five hits in a five inning no-decision. Bridgewater (3-1, 3.94 ERA) struck out five and walked three while throwing 96 pitches.

Francescon (0-2) allowed three runs, two earned scattering four hits in 3.2 innings of relief.

With the loss, the Outlaws fall to 23-21 overall and 9-7 in the second half of the season. Despite the loss, Nashville remained just 2.5 games behind first-place Terre Haute Rex of the Central Division with 10 regular season games left to play.

The Outlaws will have a chance to get within 1.5 games of the Rex tomorrow night when they face-off against the division leader in Terre Haute. Thursday’s game against the Rex will start at 6:05 p.m.

Around the Web: Outlaws top Rex in extras

By Todd Golden, Special to the Tribune-Star

TERRE HAUTE — The formula for extra innings for the Terre Haute Rex is simple. If the day ends in a “y” you have a good chance to see free baseball at Bob Warn Field.

Tuesday’s game against Nashville was no exception. The Outlaws forced extra innings with a two-run ninth inning and the game was decided in the 13th when Nashville broke through for an 11-9 victory in a game that lasted 4 hours, 41 minutes and which ended at nearly midnight.

It was the eighth extra inning game played by the Rex at Bob Warn Field this season.

The loss hurt the Rex in the Prospect League Central Division race. The Outlaws, who recently passed Richmond for second place, pulled to within two games of Terre Haute. The Central Division second-half champion earns a playoff berth.

Regulation baseball featured three lead changes in two ties. The Rex led 2-0 after the first. Chris Carlson doubled home Kyle Burnam and Carlson scored on a double play groundout.

CLICK HERE to read the rest of the article

Outlaws edge Terre Haute in extras

By TY

Box Score

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - The Nashville Outlaws scored two runs in the top of the 13th inning to defeat the first-place Terre Haute Rex, 11-9 at Bob Warn Field on Tuesday. A total of 11 pitchers were used in the game as the game took 4 hours and 41 minutes to decide the outcome.

Kevin Smith's one-out RBI double to right-center drove in college teammate Andrew Brouillette from first-base to break a 9-9 tie game in the top of the 13th. The Outlaws would extend its lead later in the inning when Jared Fancher (TCU) plated Smith with a two-out RBI single up the middle, giving the Outlaws a two-run advantage heading into the bottom of the 13th.

The Outlaws trailed 9-7 heading into the top of the 9th before Johnny Amann (Judson) and Sam Dove led off the inning with singles and then came home on an RBI groundout by Greg Bachman (Austin Peay) and an RBI single by Doug Joyce (Florida International).

Sam Dove (Georgia Tech) had a career night at the plate, going 5-for-6 with a pair of RBI while Johnny Amann (Judson) Kevin Smith (LSU Shreveport) and Matt Borgschulte (Western Kentucky) each had two hits in the 13-inning win.

With the win, the Outlaws improve to 23-20 overall and 9-6 in the second half of the season. More importantly, with the win over the division leader Tuesday, Nashville now trails the Rex by two games with 11 games to play in the regular season.

Navery Moore (Vanderbilt) allowed six runs, five earned on five hits in 5.2 inning no-decision. Moore struck out three while walking a season-high six batters.

The back of the bullpen came up huge for the Outlaws on Tuesday as Craig Stem (Trevecca), Jon Ivie (Belmont) and Lee Thompson (St. Catherine) combined to throw 6.2 innings of scoreless relief.

Thompson (1-0) was once again a work horse for the Outlaws as he threw the game's final three innings to earn the win. The crafty lefthander scattered four hits and struck out five while throwing 60 pitches in relief to earn his first win of the year. In 16 innings this summer, Thompson has a 1.69 ERA.

Nashville was able to win despite committing three errors and being outhit 16-13.

Also notable:
** Johnny Amann is hitting .471 in his last seven games. Amann is 16-for-34 with 12 RBI, 8 runs, and 3 triples during that span. Two of those triples came in the same inning, which was also a prospect league record.
** Dove's five hits Tuesday ties an Outlaw record.
** With two scoreless innings on Tuesday, Outlaw closer Jon Ivie improved his scoreless innings streak to 20.1 innings this season. Ivie (2-0, 0.00 ERA) has 19 strikeouts and five walks on the year.

Prospect League Playoff Schedule Announced

By TY

The Prospect League office announced the postseason playoff schedule and format today.

The First and Second Half Winners of each division (East, Central, West) will play a one game play-off game at the site of the team with the higher overall regular season winning percentage. The games will be played on Monday, August 9.

If the same team wins the First and Second Half then the team with the best overall winning percentage over the complete 2010 season will play the divisional winner in a one game play-off. The three divisional winners will travel to Chillicothe, Ohio, VA Memorial Stadium for the Championship Series. The series is a single elimination series. The teams will be seeded based on their overall winning percentage for the regular season.

Key Dates to Remember

August 7 - Regular Season Ends

August 9 - Divisional Play-Off Games

August 10 - Travel Day to Chillicothe, Ohio

August 11 - Championship Series
2 p.m. CT - Game One, Second Seed vs. Third Seed
6 p.m. CT - Championship Game, Winner Game One vs. First Seed

Outlaws-Rex in Lightning Delay

By TY

We are currently in a lightning delay at Hawkins Field due to heavy thunderstorms in the Nashville area. The start of the game will be pushed back 30 minutes after a lightning strike. Stay tuned to the blog for weather updates. In the mean time stay dry.