Tigers split series at Kuna

The Mountain Home Tigers and Kuna Kavemen split their SIC 4A conference baseball series last week, each team winning on the road.

Tigers 5, Kavemen 1

A three-run fifth inning helped the Tigers pull away from Kuna Thursday for a 5-1 conference win at Kuna.

Eric Christiansen pitched six scoreless innings to get the win and snap a two-game losing streak for him. He struck out eight and allowed just two hits. Tom Hennessey pitched the seventh, when the Kavemen scored an unearned run.

Four Tigers had two hits in the game. David Bitrick, Jake Hennessey, Tom Hennessey and Brock Morris each had two hits, Bitrick knocked in two runs, Jake and Tom Hennessey both had RBIs and Morris scored two runs. Anthony Castillo and Kevin Anderson also had hits, Castillo had an RBI.

Tiger baseball coach Travis DeVore was pleased with the win.

"I was really proud of Eric (Christiansen). When he works ahead, he's lights out out there, and when he doesn't, the batters catch up to him. But he struck out seven of the first eight batters he faced, so it was really an outstanding effort.

"Tom Hennessey has just been hitting outstanding for us and Jake Hennessey hit really well tonight. It was just a team effort. Brock (Morris), you can't say enough about starting the game off with a triple and what that does momentum-wise.

"I was worried about Kuna because I know they've got more than what they'd shown us in those non-conference games, but we handled it, and the kids played well," the Tigers coach added. "There's still some things that we've got to get better at, but this is a step in the right direction, and it's good to be back at .500 in conference."

The win improved the Tigers to 4-4 in conference play and 13-5 overall.

Kavemen 6, Tigers 3

A four-run fourth inning was the difference in Friday's game with Kuna, won by the Kavemen, 6-3, in Mountain Home.

Mountain Home scored in the first inning to go up 1-0, but the Kavemen plated two in the second to take the lead.

Four unearned runs in the fourth chased Alex Rodriguez from the mound and Jon McCabe shut down Kuna the rest of the way, but the Tigers were unable to score more than single runs in the fifth and sixth as Alex Bunn went the distance for Kuna to pick up the 6-3 win.

"There were some moments in the game that were frustrating for sure," said Coach DeVore after the game. "We had our chances, like in the sixth inning when David (Bitrick) hit that ball to right field just a few inches away from a tie ball game, or down by one, but I really respected Kuna out here today, too. They made some huge plays when they needed to and their defense looked great tonight. When it was most needed, their defense came up with a big play, even if we did hit the ball hard.

"It's one of those things where you want to be down on yourself and you want to make sure you learn and make adjustments, but at the same time, I don't want to take anything away from Kuna's efforts tonight. Their kid threw well and their defense played well and they were putting the ball in play on the offensive side."

Jake Hennessey led the Tigers with two hits. Brock Morris, David Bitrick, Eric Christiansen, Tom Hennessey, Jon McCabe and Trevor Woodruff also had hits. Morris, Tom Hennessey and Christiansen had RBIs.

Alex Rodriguez suffered the loss, his first against four wins.

This is a busy week for the Tigers. They were at Emmett on Monday with a makeup of the conference game that got rained and snowed out on April 2, were at Bishop Kelly Tuesday for a non-conference game against the Knights, go to Middleton Thursday to face the Vikings in conference action, and then face them at home on Friday.

Coach DeVore likes the busy week of baseball for his Tiger team.

"We're not quite consistent yet in conference play, and every time I read the paper now, that's pretty much everyone except Bishop Kelly," the coach added. "Everyone is splitting (their conference games) and right around .500, and that certainly includes us at this point in conference play, so we've got to keep our heads up and continue to make adjustments, because we're definitely on shortened time right now.

"There's a lot of seniors on this team that I care a lot about, and I want to make sure that they have a strong finish for their season, because they've put a lot of time in for baseball. There's only a handful of games left for these guys and we need to go out on a high note."