Fremont, Nebraska- The Fremont Moo snapped their four-game losing streak in a 15-2 victory over the Oahe Zap, Friday night at Historic Moller Field. Fremont smashed four home runs, while Jayson Willers recorded seven RBI’s. Tyson Romero pitched 7.0 innings striking out thirteen Zap hitters, in the win.
Fremont started the scoring in the first. Christian Hobbs led off with a single. Then, Ben Swails reached on a fielder’s choice. Tyman Long singled to put runners at the corners. Next, Jayson Willers grounded out to the pitcher, scoring Swails, to make it 1-0.
The Moo offense exploded in the second inning. Neil Jansen led off with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Andrew Kirchener grounded out to second, advancing Jansen to third. Then, Jansen scored on a wild pitch, making it 2-0. Trey Nichols walked and moved to second on a wild pitch. Tyler Hummel, Hobbs and Swails were all hit by pitches, the latter scoring Nichols to make it 3-0. Two batters later, Willers hit a bases-clearing double to make it 6-0. The next batter, Henry Hayman, hit an 0-1 pitch from Zap starter John Patty over the left field fence for a two-run home run, making it 8-0.
In the third, Oahe brought in reliever Daniel Clark. On the second pitch he threw, Kirchener hit a solo home run to right field, making it 9-0. Nichols followed with a single and Hummel drew a walk. Two batters later, Swails singled to load up the bases. Long hit into a fielder’s choice, knocking in Nichols to put Fremont up 10-0. Next, Willers hit an RBI single, scoring Swails to make it 11-0, Fremont.
In the fifth inning, Hobbs hit his first home run of the season. He smacked a 1-0 pitch from Clark over the right field fence, to make it 12-0. Swails drew a walk, then advanced to second on a wild pitch. Long hit a ground ball to short, but an errant throw allowed him to reach, and Swails scored, making it 13-0. Then, on a 2-2 pitch, Willers hit a majestic shot over the left field fence, for a two run home run, putting Fremont up 15-0.
The Zap got on the board in the eighth inning. With one out, Trevor Seagraves singled before Jackson Mix reached on a dropped fly ball in right field, to put runners at second and third. Trenton Duchscherer hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Seagraves to make it 15-1. Mix would advance to third on a wild pitch, then score on a passed ball, to make it 15-2.
In the ninth, Jacob Ortiz came on and walked the leadoff batter, Jared Heck. However, he got Yuki Gushi to fly out to right. Then, Tyler Hoffman hit a line drive to Swails at short, who threw back to first to double off Heck, for the final out of the game.
Tyson Romero (3-0) earned the win for the Moo. The Lincoln native, at Nebraska Wesleyan, pitched 7.0 innings, giving up four hits, one walk, struck out three and had one wild pitch. Evan Kleinhans pitched 1.0 inning in his Moo debut. The Berkeley, California native at Columbia University gave up one hit, two unearned runs, walked two, struck out two and had two wild pitches. Jacob Ortiz, the Tucson, Arizona native at Cerro Coso Community College, walked one batter.
Oahe’s John Patty (0-1) took the loss. He pitched 2.0 innings, giving up five hits, eight runs, walked one, struck out two, yielded the home run to Hayman, had four wild pitches and hit three batters. Daniel Clark pitched 3.0 innings, giving up seven hits, six earned runs, walked two, struck out two, gave up three home runs to Kirchener, Hobbs and Willers, and had one wild pitch. Collin Quandee pitched 3.0 innings, giving up one hit.
Offensively, Fremont’s Christian Hobbs was 2-for-4. The Omaha native from Black Hawk Community College, hit a solo home run. Ben Swails was 1-for-3. The Tiffin, Iowa native at the University of Iowa stole a base and had an RBI. Tyman Long was 1-for-4. The Sioux Falls, South Dakota native at College of Southern Nevada, had one RBI. Jason Willers was 3-for-5. For the second time in three games, the Davenport, Iowa native at Morningside University was a triple shy of the cycle. He homered and had seven RBI’s. Henry Hayman was 2-for-4. The Melbourne, Australia native from Barton County Community College, hit a home run and had two RBI’s. Neil Jansen was 2-for-5. The Cypress, California native at San Jose State had a single and a double. Andrew Kirchener was 1-for-4. The Lakewood, California native at UNLV hit a solo home run.
More information: The seven RBI’s by Willers set a 2023 season high for any Moo player. Tyson Romero’s thirteen strikeouts also set a season high for any Moo pitcher in an outing, this year. With the win, Fremont snapped its four-game losing streak, which was Fremont’s longest of the year. The Moo now lead the season series over the Zap, 4-0.
Up Next: Fremont (18-10, 1-3) will host Oahe (6-25, 1-3) in game two of the series, Saturday night. First pitch at Historic Moller Field is 7:05pm. Saturday’s game is “Salute To Service, Saturday”. All active and retired military personnel will receive free admission to the game, plus there will be multiple recognitions of veterans throughout the contest. For tickets, go to www.fremontmoo.com/tickets, or call (402)-660-1217.
