OTTAWA – Marquette’s pitcher Carson Zellers doesn’t much like having a teammate serve as his designated hitter during his starts, but if the results turn out the way they did on Thursday for him and his Crusaders teammates, he’ll take it every time.
Against Dwight, in his first start this season, Zellers was strong throughout his four innings, striking out six and not allowing an earned run before freshman reliever Alek Novotney struck out the side in the fifth to complete a 15-3 Tri-County Conference win over the Trojans at Masinelli Field.
I like to hit, so I didn’t care for having someone bat for me, but if it’s something that will help the team win, it’s fine with me.”
— Carson Zellers, Marquette pitcher
The Cru (4-1, 2-0 TCC) backed the Zellers and Novotney with 11 hits – three of them along with four runs batted in by senior Ethan Price, the player hitting for Zellers. Marquette scored four runs in the first, three in the third and eight in the bottom of the fourth to shorten the game to five innings.
Tommy Durdan celebrated his 18th birthday with two hits and three RBIs, and Krew Bond and Charlie Mullen each added a pair of hits.
“I like to hit, so I didn’t care for having someone bat for me,” Zellers said with a smile, “but if it’s something that will help the team win, it’s fine with me.
“I felt I started pretty strong. The second inning probably wasn’t my best (when Dwight got two hits and a run). I was getting the curveball up and I need to work on getting it lower ... but in the third and fourth I felt I was throwing pretty decent. I just missed a few spots. Other than that, I felt great. It’s also pretty nice when the bats are going like they are right now.”
For Dwight, Luke Gallet had three hits and scored twice, while Joey Starks added two hits and two RBIs. It was a rough day for starter Will Trainer and reliever Tracer Brown, who were touched for eight unearned runs.
“We’re hitting the ball a little better,” Marquette coach Todd Hopkins said. “We left a couple on early when we had to get runners in, move the ball. We have to pay more attention to detail right now.
“But this was Carson’s first start and if he was a little rusty, it’s our fault for not getting him more innings. We just haven’t played much (due to weather). The one thing about Carson is that you know he’s a competitor, so I don’t worry about him. He’ll buckle down.”
With two out and no one on, Marquette jumped in front starting with a single by Bond. Sam Mitre was hit by a pitch before an error on a Keaton Davis bouncer plated one. Charlie Mullen followed with a two-run triple and Price had a run-scoring single to complete the rally.
Dwight (2-4, 0-2) climbed to within 4-2 on an error and an RBI double by Starks in the second and singles by Dawson Carr, Gallet and Starks in the third.
The home team, however, added three in their third on a two-run triple by Price and an RBI hit by Durdan.
In the big fourth against Brown, Mitre reached on a one-out error, Davis was hit by a pitch and Mullen walked to fill the bases. Price rapped an RBI infield hit and Griffin Walker’s RBI grounder was erred to score two more runs before Durdan slapped a two-run single.
Logan Nelson then powered a two-run double and, after a walk to Bond, Mitre drove in the final two runs with a single.
“Playing over here the last couple of years, we know Todd’s always got a great hitting club,” Dwight coach Jonathan Golden said. “We made a couple of mistakes in the field and they capitalized on them. You can’t give up things like that to a good-hitting team like Marquette.
“Our starter (Trainer) had had a couple good outings before today, but he struggled a little bit with his off-speed today, so he was pitching from behind in the count. Against a team like Marquette, you have to try and work back, but they hit fastballs well. Tracer didn’t have it today either, but I have all the confidence in the world in them. They’ll be OK.”