Jun. 14—Logan Cline and Sam Golden both slugged home runs to aid the Joplin Outlaws in a 16-4 win in eight innings over the Des Moines Peak Prospects on Sunday at Memorial Park Ball Field in Boone, Iowa.
The triumph avenged a 5-3 loss that Joplin had suffered the day before to Des Moines, improving its MINK League record to 5-3 to preserve its spot atop the South Division standings.
“Saturday was kind of a tough loss, and they kind of exposed us from an offensive standpoint,” Joplin head coach Chris Dawson said. “But today we kind of challenged our guys to get back to what made us successful earlier in the season. They responded well. Our pitching and defense continued to do what they do day in and day out, and then offensively we were able to step it up a notch.”
The two teams were deadlocked at 1-1 before Joplin broke open the game with a three-run fourth and a seven-run fifth. Des Moines responded with two runs in the bottom of the fifth to trim the Outlaws’ lead to 11-3.
“We drew a few walks in that seventh inning and then took advantage of that with some timely hits,” Dawson said. “That was pretty much what we were missing the night before.”
Following a one-run showing by the Prospects in the seventh, the Outlaws all but iced the game with a five-run eighth that saw Golden deliver a two-run home run and Cline hit a solo home run.
Golden, Cline and Cade Lott each finished with multiple hits. Lott’s biggest hit came in the first inning when he logged an RBI double to give Joplin a 1-0 lead.
Outlaws starter Jack O’Brien, a Hawaii Pacific University product, picked up the win after limiting Des Moines to one unearned run while striking out three with no walks in 4 1/3 innings.
Cole White and Brett Weimers both came on in relief for Joplin before Jake Algee entered in the eighth to hold the Prospects to no runs and no hits.
“Pitching was solid again,” Dawson said. “We’ve pitched it really well all season long. I keep telling our team that and I keep telling our pitchers that. As long as we can do that, we’re going to be in every ballgame we play in.”
The Outlaws continue their road trip on Monday as they travel to Clarinda, Iowa, for a two-game series against the Clarinda A’s. The first game is slated for a 7 p.m. start on Monday at Clarinda Stadium.
“Clarinda is a team that beat Des Moines earlier this year because of walks and errors,” Dawson said. “So we have to go up there and keep doing what we’ve been doing over the last couple of weeks and try to put ourselves in a position to take a couple of ballgames.”
Contact Jared Porter on Twitter at @JaredRyanPorter.