EARL WATT
• Leader & Times
After building a 9-3 lead heading in to the seventh inning Thursday night against Hays, the Liberal Bee Jays suffered an epic collapse, giving up eight runs in an 11-9 extra-inning loss to drop the series to the first-place Larks.
The Bee Jays used a strong pitching performance by Jason Davis to earn a 4-1 win in Game 1 against Rocky Mountain League-leading Hays Wednesday in Game 1 of a double header, but the Bee Jay pitching staff was rocked by the Larks in Game 2 in a 14-8 loss.
Davis allowed one run in the second inning. He gave up two hits and walked four while striking out six in is innings.
With a strong effort on the mound, the Bee Jays were able to belt out seven hits and score four runs.
Matt Bernath was the first to cross the plate in the first inning off an RBI single by Carson Willis.
After the Larks tied the game in the second, the Bee Jays took the lead in the fourth when Jack Ryan scored off an RBI single by Bernath.
Liberal added a pair of insurance runs in the sixth with a Drew Garcia solo home run and an RBI double by Jacob Ortega that scored Ryan, and Liberal had a 4-1 lead.
Aden Bowman relieved Davis and pitched a scoreless seventh to secure the win.
But the Larks bats came to life in Game 2, and the Larks strung together big inning after big inning to take a 14-2 lead into the seventh inning. The Bee Jays scored six runs in the final inning including a grand slam, but they fell short 14-8.
Thursday, the Bee Jays fell behind 3-1 but battled back to take a 4-3 lead and then erupted for five runs to take a commanding 9-3 lead.
The Bee Jays continued to hold the Larks until Hays pushed two runs across the plate in the sixth to cut the lead to 9-5.
Still, the Bee Jays had a decent lead until the seventh inning when the Larks were able to load the bases with two outs.
The Bee Jay reliever lofted a pitch over the heart of the plate, and a Hays batter crushed the ball over the right field fence for a grand slam and tied the game 9-9.
The Bee Jays had a go-ahead run on second in the bottom of the eighth but could not get a key two-out hit and left the runner stranded.
But the Bee Jays kept the Larks from scoring in the ninth and had another chance to win the game in the bottom of the ninth.
The Bee Jays again had a base runner but could not advance.
Hays took advantage of a key triple in the 10th inning to push a run across the plate. A sacrifice fly allowed the runner to score, and Hays had an 11-9 lead.
The Bee Jays had a base runner in the 10th but a pop out to shallow right ended the game with an 11-9 loss.
