The No. 3-ranked T.R. Miller Tiger baseball team left five runners in scoring position Tuesday at home as they were defeated by the Jay Royals 3-2. T.R. Miller left eight total runners on base in the game.
Both the Tigers, who fell to 6-3 after the loss, and the Royals scored one run each in the first inning before the Tigers went on top 2-1 with one run in the third.
The Tigers would be held scoreless the remainder of the game while the Royals plated two runs in the fifth inning to help send them to a win.
Conner Denton started on the mound for the Tigers and went the first two innings of the game while taking the no decision. Denton allowed two hits, one earned run, walked none and struck out two.
Darby Black relieved Denton in the top of the third inning and went three innings and took the loss. Black allowed four hits, two earned runs, walked one and struck out two.
Kevin Davis closed the game for the Tigers going the final two innings and striking out all six batters he faced.
At the plate for the Tigers, Collin Graves was 1-for-3 along with Davis and Caleb McAnally. McAnally had a RBI double off the fence in the third inning.
Rounding out the Tiger hitters was Ryan Hunt who was 2-for-3 with a double in the loss.
Jay got on the board first in the top of the first after their leadoff batter singled and reached second on a fielding error by the Tigers. With one out in the inning, the Royals benefited from another single to score the first run of the game.
In the bottom of the first for the Tigers, Graves led the inning off with a single and with two outs, McAnally and Jacob Fillmore were walked but not before Graves scored on a wild pitch.
In the third inning, with two outs for the Tigers, Kevin Davis earned a walk and was driven in by McAnally’s double off the fence.
With T.R. Miller leading 2-1 in the fifth inning, Jay got three singles and a walk and scored two runs to take the lead over the Tigers 3-2.
Following a 1-2-3 inning for the Tigers in the bottom of the fifth, the Tigers stranded Ryan Hunt at second base in the sixth after a one-out double for Hunt.
In the seventh, Kevin Davis singled with two outs but the Tigers failed to score as Jay went on to take the win by one.
T.R. Miller is scheduled to play at Northview Saturday in a doubleheader. The time of the game was not known as of press time.