Moo take Western Nebraska series with 9-4 victory
Gering, Neb. – The Moo rode a hot start, building a seven-run lead in the first three innings to cruise to a 9-4 victory over Western Nebraska Thursday night. The victory gives Fremont the series win over the Pioneers and runs the Moo’s record against the first-half Clark Division champions to 4-1.
The win also allows Fremont to keep pace with Spearfish in the Clark Division second-half race. The Moo stay within a half-game of the Sasquatch heading into the final two games of the regular season.
Just as they did on Wednesday, Fremont (41-21 overall/21-10 second half) drew first blood, this time striking in the first. With one out, Dillon Sears reached on an error by the third baseman. EJ Taylor singled up the middle, moving Sears to second. Luke White lined a single through the right side, scoring Sears and getting the Moo on the board. Two batters later, Darien Morphew singled up the middle, scoring Taylor to boost Fremont’s lead to 2-0.
The Moo attack resumed in the second inning. Peyton Leeper led off the inning with a single to left. With one out, Push singled to the left side, moving Leeper to second. A single to right by Sears loaded the bases ahead of Taylor, who hit a fielder’s choice grounder to second to score Leeper to make it 3-0 in the second. Then with White at the plate, Taylor got hung up between first and second, allowing Push to score to boost the Moo lead to 4-0.
Then in the third, White clobbered his sixth home run of the year over the left field fence to lead off the inning. With one out, Morphew singled to right. A fielder’s choice where no outs were recorded hit into by Baskin put runners at first and second. Then Leeper reached on an error by the third baseman, allowing Morphew to score to make it 5-0. Trey Nichols hit a fielder’s choice grounder to third, scoring Baskin to make it 7-0.

Western Nebraska (39-22/16-14) cut the lead with two in the fourth and two in the sixth to make it 7-4, but in the top of the seventh, the Moo put the game away. Simonsen singled to right, then moved to third when Morphew doubled to right. A two-run single up the middle by Baskin pushed Fremont’s lead to 9-4.
Nolan Meredith (4-0) gave the Moo a solid start on the hill, allowing just two earned runs in 6.2 innings pitched. Riley Ward entered the game with the bases loaded and two out in the seventh. He induced a grounder to shortstop to get out of the jam and to start a streak of seven straight batters retired to close out the win and earn his first save of the season.
White paced the Fremont offense, going 2-for-5 with two RBI, a double and a home run. Morphew was 3-for-5 with an RBI and a double. White added two RBI and was 2-for-5 with a double. Every Moo starter contributed at least one hit, with eight of the nine scoring at least one run.
Fremont heads to Sioux Falls to close out the regular season with a two-game series beginning Friday at 7:05 pm. The game can be heard on FremontMoo.com and Big Dog 98.9 FM and 1340 AM.



