Tom Oakley and A.J. Castleman helped jump-start the stagnate Houston Tigers offense.
The duo, who batted fourth and fifth in the lineup, had three hits apiece and combined for seven RBIs and five runs in the Tigers’ 14-9 victory Monday at Mountain View-Liberty.
Junior Ty Scheets had a pinch hit three-run homer and Kirk Pierce scored four times for Houston, which had a season-high 13 hits en route to its second victory of the season.
The Tigers (2-2) managed just two hits in lopsided losses to Rolla and Stoutland their previous two outings. But they broke loose in a big way against Liberty, thanks in large part to Oakley and Castleman.
“Those guys have got to drive people in, and that’s what they did,” Houston coach Brent Hall said.
Oakley had the biggest day offensively. The senior first baseman was 3-for-4 with four RBIs and four runs scored.
Oakley’s only out was a RBI groundout in the seventh. He doubled in the second, drove home a pair of runs with a single in the third, walked in the fifth and singled home a run in the sixth.
“Every at-bat he had was productive,” Hall said.
Third baseman Chris Mooney had a pair of hits for Houston, which scored nine of its 14 runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Caleb Smith scored a pair of runs.
Ahead 7-5, the Tigers broke it open with six runs in the sixth. Oakley, Castleman and Mooney had consecutive RBI singles to make it 10-5. David Foster followed with the Tigers’ fifth straight single in front of Scheets, who delivered a three-run homer to center field off the bench. It was his team-leading second homer of the season.
Castleman gave up six runs – two earned – and struck out five in 5 1/3 innings for his second victory. He gave up six hits and walked seven.
“He still had too many walks, but he gutted it out,” Hall said. “He ran into some rough stretches and made it through.”
HOUSTON 14, LIBERTY 9
hhs (2-2) ab r h bi lhs ab r h bi
Wybrght cf 3 0 0 0 Sharp p 3 2 0 0
Smith ss 3 2 1 0 Young cf 4 1 1 2
Pierce c 2 4 1 0 Egly 3b 5 1 3 1
Oakley 1b 4 4 3 4 Orchard c 4 1 2 2
Cstlmn p 4 1 3 3 Zitter lf 5 0 0 0
Moony 3b 5 1 2 1 Taylor ss 3 2 1 0
Foster lf 4 1 1 0 Conn dh 3 1 2 3
Barton rf 2 0 0 0 Foulk rf 2 0 1 0
Scheets ph 1 1 1 3 Williams 1b 2 1 0 0
Smith 2b 3 0 1 0
Totals 31 14 13 11 Totals 31 9 10 8
2B: Smith, Oakley, Castleman, Smith, Young, Egly, Orchard. HR: Scheets, Taylor. SB: Weybright, Pierce 4, Oakley 3, Castleman, Foulk, Williams.
Houston 013 036 1 – 14 13 3
Liberty 010 404 0 – 9 10 3
houston ip h r er bb so
Castleman, W 5.1 6 6 2 7 5
Foster 0.2 2 3 0 1 1
Weybright 1 2 0 0 0 0
liberty ip h r er bb so
Sharp 4 6 4 4 2 2
Egly, L 0 0 3 3 0 2
Zitter 2 7 6 2 2 1
HBP: Pierce 2, Smith, Young, Conn.
