COLUMBIA, Mo. - Freshman pitcher Tanner Houck (Collinsville, Ill.) was excellent on Saturday afternoon (Oct. 18), as he allowed only two runs, one earned, and totaled eight strikeouts as Team Black bested Gold by a 6-4 score at Taylor Stadium. Houck struck out six batters in the game's first three innings and did not allow a hit until the sixth. He only allowed one extra-base hit, a RBI-double for Brock Bond (St. Louis, Mo.) in the sixth inning.

The standout pitching performance was matched with a solid, balanced day at the plate for the Black squad, as six players tallied hits with Chris Akmon (Scottsdale, Ariz.), Zach Lavy (Auxvasse, Mo.), Jack Klages (St. Louis, Mo.) and Case Munson (St. Charles, Mo.) all claiming multi-hit efforts. Four different Black hitters had a RBI in the contest.

Both teams went scoreless in the first inning, though McClain had to work around back-to-back two-out singles from Akmon and Lavy as he held Black off the board. After Houck's second two-strikeout inning, the Black squad was poised to score after back-to-back hits from Klages and Zack Henderson (Greedale, Wisc.), and a groundout by Brett Peel (St. Charles, Mo.) brought Klages in for a 1-0 lead. A wild pitch then allowed Henderson to score from third, giving Black a 2-0 edge through two innings.

Black threatened again in the third, putting Akmon and Lavy in scoring position with one out but two straight strikeouts ended the inning. Gold was opportunistic in the fourth, taking advantage of three errors from the Black squad to cut the deficit to 2-1. They tied the game quickly in the sixth as Josh Lester (Columbus, Ga.) tallied the first hit of the day off Houck before Bond doubled him home. The draw didn't last long, though, as Black answered with three runs in the bottom of the sixth off the bats of Akmon, Lavy and Munson, claiming a 5-2 lead.

Houck found his groove once again in the seventh, tallying two strikeouts in a scoreless 1-2-3 inning. Nolan Gromacki (Smithville, Mo.) pitched himself into trouble in the bottom of the frame with two walks to start the inning, and a balk with one out cost a run and pushed the Black lead to four runs. Gold answered back, taking advantage of some wildness from Bryce Montes De Oca (Lawrence, Kan.), scoring a run after two walks, a hit batsman and a wild pitch to start the inning. Breckin Williams (Oronogo, Mo.) then entered to pitch, and he limited the damage to 6-4. A scoreless ninth sealed the win for the Black squad.

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