Angeron's bat, O'Brien's pitching lifts Outlaws past Renegades
Jun. 23—JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A big offensive night from Drake Angeron coupled with strong starting pitching from Jack O'Brien fueled the Joplin Outlaws to a 7-3 victory over the Jefferson City Renegades on Tuesday night at Vivion Field.
Angeron, who plays at Fort Hays State, went 3-for-4 with a double and three runs driven in to highlight the Outlaws' (10-7) offensive attack. The junior-to-be is now batting .350 with nine RBI for Joplin this summer.
O'Brien, a Hawaii Pacific product, limited the Renegades to two runs (one earned) on four hits. The senior-to-be punched out a season-high seven batters and now holds a minuscule 1.35 ERA in four outings (two starts) in the current MINK League season.
After a cold night at the plate on Monday, the Outlaws outhit Jefferson City (8-9) 10-6 and posted a pair of runs in the second, third and seventh innings to account for six of their seven tallies.
Sam Golden slugged his second home run of the season in the top of the seventh for Joplin. He logged a 1-for-3 performance with three runs scored, while Calen Protaskey doubled home a run.
Masayuki Maruhashi followed O'Brien in relief. He fanned three batters over one inning of one-run baseball while Jake Algee finished it off with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Renegades were led by Ben Burton, who accounted for two of the team's six hits. Starter Kaden Helsel, who took the loss, coughed up five runs (three earned) on six hits in three innings of work.
Joplin is currently tied with the Sedalia Bombers (9-7) for first place in the MINK South Division. The Bombers hosted the Nevada Griffons on Tuesday, but no score was reported as of press time.
After an off day on Wednesday, the Outlaws are back in action at the Chillicothe Mudcats with a 7:05 p.m. start on Thursday.
