The Marshall County Dusters snapped a two-game losing streak by defeating the Missouri Bulls 5-1 in nine innings on Friday afternoon at Siegel High School in their opening contest at the MTSU Top Ten tournament.

After the two teams battled to a 1-1 tie through the first eight innings of play, the Dusters (18-12) broke the game open by crossing home plate four times in the top of the ninth to claim the victory.

Marshall County starting hurler Matt Sharp turned in a brilliant pitching performance and went the distance on the mound to earn the win, as he limited Missouri to just six hits and a walk while recording seven strikeouts.

'Outstanding'

"Matt pitched a heck of a ballgame. He kept his pitch count low and threw under 100 pitches in nine innings. That's outstanding," said Dusters coach Mike Reese. "It was a good ballgame and both teams had opportunities to win. We hung in there and pulled it out in the ninth. We beat a good ballclub."

Bolstered by their ninth inning outburst, the Dusters finished with 10 hits and five walks against two Bull pitchers. Connor Bush (1 RBI), Bubba Houghton (1 RBI), Grayson Wiles (1 RBI), and Hayden Bailey tallied two hits apiece to lead Marshall County offensively, while Sharp and Lane Whitesell each added one hit.

Reliever Josh Jansen suffered the loss on the mound for Missouri and surrendered four runs over one inning on four hits and a walk. Bulls starting pitcher Cody Wills had to settle for the no decision despite yielding just one run in eight innings of work on six hits and four walks.

Colton Black notched two hits to pace Missouri at the plate, while Josh Haggerty (1 RBI), Wesley Pyles, Tyler Vaughn, Blake Hagedorn had one hit apiece.

Close at first

Neither team managed to advance a runner past first base through the first two innings before the Dusters plated a run in the top of the third to grab a 1-0 lead. After Houghton led off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a Wiles sacrifice bunt, Kirby drew a walk. Houghton then advanced to third on a passed ball before coming home on a RBI single by Bush.

Missouri mounted an immediate response and tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the third when Pyles scored on a two-out RBI double by Haggerty after belting a leadoff double into the left centerfield gap.

Sharp then worked around a Black double and a hit batsman in the bottom of the fourth with the help of a 6-4-3 double play before the Dusters left a runner in scoring position in each of the next three innings.

Saving a win

In the bottom of the seventh, the Bulls had a golden opportunity to win the game after loading the bases with no outs on a double by Black, a walk, and an error. Missouri, however, would come away empty handed, as Duster third baseman Ryan McDaniel snared a line drive by Jansen and stepped on the bag for an unassisted double play before Sharp retired Pyles on a groundout to escape the jam.

Wills snuffed out a Marshall County scoring threat in the top of the eighth with the aid of a 6-3 double play, but the Dusters took advantage of Wills' absence from the mound in the ninth inning and pushed across four runs in the frame to seize a 5-1 lead.

Following a leadoff double by Sharp and a bloop single by Bailey, McDaniel reached base on a fielder's choice when the Bulls unsuccessfully tried to throw out Sharp at third on the play. After Richardson drew a bases loaded walk to bring home Sharp, Houghton and Wiles delivered consecutive RBI singles to make it 4-1 before Richardson scored on a wild pitch.

Sharp then retired Missouri in order in the bottom of the ninth to secure the win for Marshall County.