Nearly flawless execution by the Harrisburg defense behind a solid start from pitcher Jayson Eskew delivered the first win of the season for Harrisburg Wednesday night. The Bulldogs came back from a three-run deficit to defeat Higbee 9-3 at home and claim their first win of the season after an 0-7 start.

Harrisburg coach Chris Ackman said he hopes the win gives his players more confidence as the season continues. “We also have to ground them a little bit. We have to keep working. We're still 1-7. We can compete, but we have to keep working on it and keep getting better. We have to be better tomorrow than we were today.

“We celebrate the small things, because this team needs those things to build upon. That was our first lead of the year. The goal is to be better in May than we were in March. They're doing the best they can learning what we're trying to teach. We have kids who are playing out of position to start a game then having to go play another position because we're dealing with injuries left and right. But they're stepping up and doing the best they can. For a coach, that's all you can ask for.”

The Bulldogs lost to Central State 8 opponent Russellville the night before. Ackman said the difference in the two games was making adjustments to the pitching sooner.

“Offensively, the one thing that was different was that we adjusted in the second inning instead of the fourth inning off the pitcher. It gave us a good chance to put some things in action and eventually tied the game in the third. In the fifth inning, we busted it out.”

The increased confidence on Wednesday was apparent after the Bulldogs put a few runs on the board. But Harrisburg had to earn it. Higbee scored first in the top of the first when junior Blake Boggs stole home as fellow junior Cale Nelson drew the throw to second on a steal attempt.

The Tigers increased their lead to three runs in the top of the third. With a runner on third and one out, Boggs drove in freshman Corbin Imhoff with a triple to right field. Boggs would score his second run of the game during the next at-bat on a ground-ball out by Nelson, giving Higbee a 3-0 lead.

Harrisburg answered in the bottom of the third, scoring three runs with two outs on the board to tie the game. After singling to lead off the inning, junior Marshal Dennis advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Eskew, and remained on as a groundout by freshman Brody Combs shrinked the odds of the Bulldogs scoring.

But Harrisburg senior Chase Gray extended the inning with an RBI single to put the Bulldogs on the board. A fielder’s choice that didn’t result in an out, followed by a walk to senior Dakota Harmon, loaded the bases. Senior Thomas Harrison took advantage of the situation and scored sophomore Evan Freeman and Harmon with a line-drive single to even the score, 3-3.

The Harrisburg defense kept the momentum alive with an efficient top of the fourth. Eskew struck out the first two batters, then induced a groundout to escape the half-inning with just 13 pitches.

The Bulldogs added to their lead in the bottom of the fifth, scoring six runs on singles by Freeman, junior Paxton White, sophomore Will Cole, Dennis, and Eskew.

With two outs and two runners on, Higbee pitcher Blake Boggs issued back-to-back walks to give Harrisburg a free run and load the bases. The consecutive free passes increased his pitch count to 100, forcing a change on the mound. Senior Danny Janssen walked the first of six batters he would face to give Harrisburg an 8-3 lead.

A passed ball allowed Harrisburg’s ninth and final run to cross the plate before Janssen induced a ground ball third out.

Despite the six-run inning, Higbee was far from rolling over. The Tigers battled back in late innings, eventually loading the bases with one out in the top of the seventh. In relief, Freeman secured the final two outs for Harrisburg, striking out one batter and forcing a groundout to end the game before Higbee could score.

Eskew claimed his first win of the season in three starts. The right-hander struck out seven batters and walked four while surrendering three earned runs on four hits in 6.1 innings on the mound.

“Defensively, when you play flawlessly, you give your pitcher a chance to pitch longer in the game. We had three innings where we faced the minimum. That helped in the pitch count. We turned a couple of double plays—two outs on one pitch. That helps a lot,” Ackman said. “There are things he could've done better. He had more walks than we wanted. It took him a while to get some outs. Sometimes it took five, six, seven pitches. But overall I think he did a fantastic job. He got better late in the game and gave us a chance to win.”

Freeman issued one walk and retired one batter on strikes without allowing a run or a hit while securing the final two outs of the game.

“Evan came in and did a nice job getting those last two outs for us,” Ackman said.

At the plate, Harrisburg drove in five of its nine runs on 11 hits, with multi-hit games by Eskew, Harrison, and Dennis.  Eskew led the team with a 3-for-3 performance with a double, a run scored, and one RBI. He also swiped two bases. Harrison had a game-high two RBI with a 2-for-3 night. Dennis had two hits in four at-bats with an RBI and two run scored. Gray, Freeman, White, and Cole each added singles.

For Higbee, Boggs took the loss, despite going 1-for-2 with a walk and two runs scored leading off for the Tigers. On the mound, he gave up nine runs (8 earned) on 10 hits and five walks but struck out six batters in 4.2 innings. Janssen issued one walk and gave up a hit but struck out one batter and allowed no runs to score in the final 1.1 innings.

Harrisburg’s celebration was short-lived. On Friday, the Bulldogs fell 10-1 at CS8 rival Tipton. They remained on the road Tuesday after the Advertiser went to press at Linn for the second consecutive conference game. They return home on Friday to host Missouri Military Academy (4-7) in a non-conference game before hosting CS8 opponent New Bloomfield on Tuesday.

The Tigers, returned home on Thursday to lose a 3-6 decision to Christian Fellowship. They were to face one-win Glasgow on the road Tuesday after the Advertiser went to press.