FAYETTEVILLE COMPLETES SWEEP OF MOUNTIES

FAYETTEVILLE -- Joey Savin settled in on the mound after a small hiccup in the first inning and Fayetteville picked up right where it left off with the bats Monday as the Purple Bulldogs completed a two-game sweep of Rogers High at Bulldog Field. The Purple'Dogs capped a strong two days of baseball with good work from Savin and key contributions up and down in the lineup, taking Tuesday's game 9-3 to sweep the series. Fayetteville (12-8, 5-3 7A-West) won 12-6 at Rogers on Monday, and now sits just one game back from the top of the conference lead while the Mounties (14-4, 5-3) drop from the top of the standings into a tie with the Bulldogs in second. "The recipe we took into (Monday's) game we took into this game," Fayetteville coach Scott Gallagher said. "We didn't swing early in the count, didn't get ourselves out and we made them make some pitches. Tried to get them deep in some counts and get some counts in our favor where we could take some aggressive swings and we did that." Rogers and Fayetteville traded runs in the first inning, as Grayson Lee doubled and scored on a Harrison Hefley RBI single to put the Mounties on top early. Savin settled in over the course of six innings, allowing three runs, two earned, on seven hits, with just one walk and 11 strikeouts while throwing 112 pitches. Even more difficult for the Mounties (14-4, 5-3) to overcome than Savin's good mix of curve and fastball was their own mistakes. Rogers pitchers McKaden Templeton and Mason Mitchell walked a combined six Fayetteville batters while the Mounties committed five errors in the field. "That was the name of the game the last two days. Walks and errors killed us," Rogers coach Matt Melson said. "They outhit us, they outpitched us and they definitely played better defense. "It was frustrating to watch and that's uncharacteristic of the way this bunch has played. But we've got to go back to work and make sure that doesn't happen anymore." Savin helped his own cause, going 3 for 5 with an RBI and a run in the leadoff spot. Fayetteville broke the game open with a four-run third inning, then got a solo home run from Barrett Banister in the fourth to make it 6-2. Banister, who finished 2 for 2 with a hit by pitch, would added another RBI single in a two-run fifth and Fayetteville then tacked on another run following a throwing error into the Bulldogs' dugout in the sixth. "You can't take anything for granted," Gallagher said. "Rogers was coming off two great wins last week and they were rolling and then we played well here (this week). And we've had some tough breaks along the way, but you can't take anything for granted. "We've got to go out the rest of the week and work hard and get ready next week for Rogers Heritage."

FAYETTEVILLE COMPLETES SWEEP OF MOUNTIES

Photo Credit: Fayetteville Athletics

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