Kempen helps Packers get a split
Published 10:47 pm Saturday, May 18, 2013
Austin junior Jacob Kempen pitched his best game of the season as he helped the Packers salvage a split out of their doubleheader with Rochester Century in Dick Seltz Field Saturday.
After the Packers lost the first game 8-1, Kempen held the Panthers (8-10 overall, 8-9 Big Nine) in check in a 7-1 win in the nightcap.
Kempen scattered six hits and walked just one in seven innings.
“Jacob did what he needs to do,” Austin head coach Troy Watkins said. “He changed speeds and he threw strikes and that’s how we expect him to pitch. He was efficient and he didn’t go deep in counts. He pitched a heck of a game.”
Kempen’s last start didn’t go nearly as smoothly as he struggled with control early on and gave up a first inning grand slam in a loss to Rochester Mayo. This time around, he was in control throughout and he got a boost from a defense when Gabe Kasak made a diving stop at shortstop and threw a runner out at home to end the third inning.
“It’s nice to throw a good game and get a win. I was struggling a little bit,” Kempen said. “I threw strikes and got on top of my pitches. My changeup was working and they were off-balanced. They hit a lot right to the defense.”
Kasak tied the game with a single in the third inning and Marcus Stoulil knocked in a run with two outs to give the Packers (8-10 overall, 7-10 Big Nine) a 2-1 lead. The Packers surged into control when Zach Huntley drilled a two-out single up the middle of a Century relief pitcher to plate two more runs.
Huntley was looking fast ball and he knew what to do with it when he saw one.
“I figured most of their pitchers were throwing fast balls and I figured he’d throw one and I’d hit it right up the middle,” Huntley said.
Austin trailed just 2-0 in the third inning of the first game when it had the bases loaded with one out, but it couldn’t drive in a run as it had just four total hits in the loss.
The Panthers surged to a 6-0 lead when Riese Zmolek belted a three-run homer over the right field fence.
“It was difficult,” Huntley said. “After that homerun in the first game it was kind of like all of the energy went down. To come out and win the second game feels good.”
Stoulil was 3-for-3 with two RBIs in the nightcap and Tommy Olmstead was 2-for-5 with two walks on the day.
Century 2 0 0 1 3 1 0 – 8 12 3
Austin 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 – 1 4 0
Austin pitching: Steven Clennon (L), 7 IP, 12 H, 8 ER, 3 K, HBP
Austin hitting: Tommy Olmstead, 1-for-3; Gabe Kasak, 1-for-3, RBI, BB; Nik Gasner, 1-for-3, BB; Ethan Horstmann, 0-for-4; Marcus Stoulil, 0-for-3; Zach Huntley, 1-for-2, BB; Clennon, 0-for-3; Sean Coffey, 0-for-3; Dylan Gasner, 0-for-1, BB, HBP; Isaac Schumacher, R
Century 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 – 1 8 1
Austin 0 0 4 3 0 0 X – 7 9 2
Austin pitching: Jacob Kempen (W), 7 IP, 6 H, 1 BB, 1 ER, 2 K
Austin hitting: Olmstead, 1-for-2, 2 R, 2 BBs; Kasak, 1-for-3, R, BB; Nik Gasner, 0-for-3, BB; Stoulil, 3-for-3, 2 RBIs, R; Huntley, 1-for-2, 2RBIs; Hunter Gleason, 1-for-3; Schumacher, 1-for-3, R; Kempen, 0-for-1, BB; Dylan Gasner, 1-for-2, RBI, BB; Horstmann, 2 R