By:Patrick Hall Monday, 3 April, 2006

The Pratt Community College baseball team clawed its way back into the pack this weekend winning three of four games against Hutchinson CC and Seward CCC, who were tied for first place coming into the weekend.

On Saturday, Pratt traveled to Seward and dropped the first game of the double-header 10-1. The game was blown open when freshman Manuel Ruiz from Mexico City of the Beavers gave up a 2-out, grand slam to Toby Davis in the fourth inning to give the Saints a 7-0 lead that they would not relinquish. Freshman catcher Aaron Vath went 2-2 with a double, a single and a hit-by-pitch, scoring the only run for the Beavers.

In game two, the Beavers rallied from a 2-0 deficit with 4 runs in the third, fourth and seventh inning and 3 runs in the fifth and sixth innings to come away with an 18-10 win. Freshman second baseman Justin Cunningham and Right fielder Matt Presson led the offensive attack with 4 RBI each. Freshman left fielder Kent Taylor scored three runs, walking 4 times in the game. Joe Augustyn, who had missed over a month with a dislocated elbow, recorded his first two hits of the season. Sophomore Brian White earned his first victory of the season, pitching 5.1 effective innings.

On Sunday, Pratt overcame a four run and a five run lead by the Blue Dragons in game 1 with a six-run second inning and three-run home run in the sixth by sophomore shortstop Brandon Hudson to take the game 13-11. The Beavers overcame five error performance by the defense with the help of six strong innings from sophomore Cody Dillon. Freshman Barrett Davis had a home run and a double for the Beavers as Cunningham added a three-run home run of his own in the third inning. Freshman Nathan Perez picked up the win in relief, with freshman Joel Lockhart coming in to close the door for the save.

In the nightcap, once again the Beavers found themselves trailing. The Blue Dragons took 6-2 lead into the bottom of the fifth inning. Pratt answered with a 12 run inning, despite batting out of order late in the inning that negated a walk-off grand slam by Vath. Pinch hitters Alex Denning and Presson each had two hits in the inning, driving in 3 and 4 runs respectively as the Beavers cruised to a 14-8 win. Freshman Brandon Dinwiddie picked up second win of the season in relief.