Royals offense too much for Tigers

18th-ranked Johnson University came to Georgetown for a mid-week makeup game against the Tigers. The Royals flexed their might, scoring 6 runs in the first 2 innings and 6 in the last 2 innings to knock off the Tigers, 14-7.

Johnson put the first 2 runners on base off Georgetown starter, Beau Becker. The Royals went for a double steal and as Tiger catcher, Hunter Hampton, threw to 3rd, the ball hit the batter in the helmet and rolled away, allowing the 1st run to score. After a walk to put the runners at the corners, the runner on 1st took off for 2nd. As the throw went to 2nd, the runner from 3rd sprinted home. An RBI groundout followed as the Royals took a 3-0 lead before Georgetown came to bat.

The Tigers had a chance to get the game all-square in the bottom of the 1st. Jarrett Chapman nearly had a leadoff homer, but his ball down the left field line was snagged over the fence by the Royal defender. Despite the great play, Georgetown kept attacking. Payton Rios and Jose Cazorla each singled to put 2 on. Hunter Hampton drew a walk to load the bases with 2 out. The Tigers then got their 1st run as Payton Rios scampered home on a wild pitch. The Tigers reloaded the bases a moment later, but Elijah Verge went down on strikes to retire the side.

Mason Mortimer took over on the mound for the Tigers in the top of the 2nd and gave up a leadoff home run to give the Royals a 4-1 lead. Johnson tacked on 2 more against Mortimer to take a 6-1 lead to the bottom of 2. With 1 out, Braden Shepherd launched a solo bomb over the left field wall to get the Tigers back within 4 heading to the 3rd.

Ashton Deskins took the ball for the 3rd inning. With 1 out, the Royals put runners on the corners and tried to steal 2nd again, but Hunter Hampton took care of that with a missile to the bag for the 2nd out. Deskins then induced a fly out to end the inning scoreless for Johnson. Georgetown then had another golden chance for runs in the bottom of the inning. Nolan Smith led off with a single and moved to 2nd on a wild pitch. 2 batters later, Luis Sosa drew a wild pitch walk that moved Smith to 3rd. Sosa then went to 2nd on another wild pitch. Peyton Young then stepped in and laced a double to right to bring both runs home and cut the Johnson lead to 6-4. The Tigers drew 2 walks to load the bases with 2 out, but Payton Rios grounded out to leave the bags loaded for the 2nd time in 3 innings.

The action picked back up in the top of the 5th. With 1 on and 1 out, the Royals added to their lead with a 2-run home run off Caleb Stahr to take an 8-4 lead. The next batter drew a walk and stole 2nd. The next play was a grounder to short that Luis Sosa made a diving stop on. The runner was caught between 2nd and 3rd and tried to sprint back to 2nd, but was chased down by Payton Rios. The batter kept running and tried getting to 2nd himself, but Rios was there for the tag to complete a wacky 6-5-4-5 double play to end the inning. Georgetown looked to use the momentum in the bottom of the inning. Luis Sosa led off with a single. Elijah Verge followed with a sky-high pop up that landed in shallow right. Sosa was caught in the baseline and forced out at 2nd as Verge stayed at 1st. The next 2 batters reached to load the bases with 1 out. Michael Detzel followed with a fielder's choice to short as Verge scored to make it an 8-5 game after 5.

Johnson took that lead to the 8th and played add-on against Caden Noble. With 1 out and runners on the edges, Johnson went for the steal of 2nd. The runner there was safe and the one on 3rd sprinted home. The next batter singled to center and got all the way to third, thanks to an errant throw from the outfield. The other runner scored for the 2nd run of the inning. Luis Sosa then bobbled a grounder at short to allow the next run in. The Royals tacked on a sacrifice fly to take a 12-5 lead. Georgetown got 2 back in the bottom of the inning via a sac fly from Nolan Smith and RBI groundout by Hunter Hampton. The Royals added 2 more in the 9th to take the win.