Blue Sox blank Plainview 13-0

Published 3:00 pm Saturday, July 7, 2012

Austin's Brian Voigt slides into third base past the tag of Plainview's Pat Priggen during the Blue Sox's 13-0 win over Plainview in Marcusen Park Friday. -- Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com

It’s safe to say the Austin Blue Sox are out of their hitting slump.

After struggling at the plate for much of the season, the Blue Sox plated a season’s best run total as they blanked Plainview 13-0 in seven innings in Marcusen Park Friday.

Ten different players had hits in the win for Austin (6-11 overall), which had lost to the Bucks 7-6 June 8.

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“Guys were swinging at good pitches and they made good contact,” Blue Sox manager Josh Kunze said. “We got everybody in and we got a lot of plate appearances for guys. We saw some really good things. It was nice to see Preston Higbe play a full seven innings at third base and he played really well.”

Chris May is greeted by John Kirby after scoring a run in the Blue Sox's 13-0 win over Plainview in Marcusen Park Friday. -- Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com

Higbe knocked in Austin’s first run of the game in the second inning, but it wasn’t until the fourth inning that the Blue Sox (6-11 overall) really opened it up as they scored nine runs to go up 10-0. Carter Guthmiller knocked in two runs with a single to center and the next five Blue Sox hitters reached base to keep the rally going.

Guthmiller said he was motivated when Higbe fought off a tough pitch to move the runners to second and third with one out before his at-bat.

“After Preston moved them over and got them into scoring position, I just had to hit the ball. He made my job a lot easier,” Guthmiller said. “We wanted to avenge that earlier loss (to Plainview) and we should’ve beat them the first time. We came out and played this time.”

Kunze put an exclamation point on the win in the fifth inning as he lined a two-run homer over the left field fence to score a Rene Araujo, who was 2-for-2 for with a triple and two RBIs.

The Blue Sox will now focus on a meeting with the Austin Greyhounds (11-11 overall) Sunday at 2 p.m. in Marcusen Park.

“This was a good game to kick off the rust after the holiday and Sunday will be the biggest game of the year for us so far,” Kunze said. “We’re looking forward to the challenge.”

Plainview 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 5 2

Blue Sox 0 1 0 9 3 0 X — 13 13 1

Blue Sox pitching: Jon Mittag (W), 5 IP, 3 H, 2 BB, 0 R, 2 K; Adam Hemann, 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R; Adam McMasters, 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R

Blue Sox hitting: Donte Bledsoe, 1-for-3, triple, RBI, R; Jamie Adams, 0-for-1, BB, SB; Brian Voigt, 1-for-2, R, SB, BB; Kyal Williams, 0-for-1, BB; Mark Harber, 0-for-2, R, BB; John Kirby, 2-for-3, R, SB, BB; Chris May, 1-for-2, RBI, 2 R, HBP; Preston Higbe, 1-for-4, RBI; Carter Guthmiller, 1-for-3, 2 RBIs, R; Quinn Yocom, 0-for-1, R, SB; Clay Eustice, 2-for-3, double, RBI, R; Rene Araujo, 2-for-2, triple, 2 RBIs, R; Jamey Pratt, 0-for-2; Pete Korfhage, 0-for-1; Josh Kunze, 1-for-1, HR, 2 RBIs, R; Nate Wilson, 0-for-1; Mike Tindal, 1-for-1