GMG’s Rider Kupka, bottom, slides across home plate under the throw to BCLUW pitcher Owen Myers (37) during the third inning of the Monday, June 3 Iowa Star Conference baseball game in Beaman. PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER

BEAMAN — BCLUW baseball stepped to the plate with confidence against GMG on Monday, June 3.

The Comets blasted the gaps in GMG’s defense and capitalized on several Wolverine errors to roll past GMG, 20-3, in four innings at Byron Rhodes Field.

BCLUW (2-7) snapped a six-game winless streak, which included a 13-7 loss at GMG on May 22.

“Last time we played them, we hit the ball really well and hit it right at them,” BCLUW senior Cael Keller said. “We came out here tonight making sure we kept our hands back, and just let it rip.”

That loss earlier in the season also featured a 10-run inning for GMG, which the Comets reciprocated on Monday night by sending 15 batters to the plate in a 10-run first inning.

PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER

Keller was 2-for-3 with a double and three RBI at the top of the order; Ryan Busch and Hayden Schleisman had three hits and three RBI each; Aiden Frank chipped in a couple RBI and Eathan Petermeier, Logan Scafferi, and Maverick Grafke each plated one run.

“We had a really good batting practice before this one but you never know what will happen on a given night,” BCLUW head coach Matt Zoske said. “We were a lot more patient at the plate, but we also got good pitches to hit and we swung at those instead of letting those go by or swinging at the bad pitches early in the count.”

With so many highlights for the Comets at the plate, BCLUW starter Owen Myers was no slouch on the rubber, striking out nine of the 18 batters he faced on Monday.

GMG got four hits and three runs off Myers, all in the third inning, but the junior finished strong with two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 inning in the fourth.

“He mowed them down,” Keller said. “He always keeps a great tempo, goes fast, goes hard, and the other guys aren’t ready for it.”

Rider Kupka and Grady Dieleman had RBI singles for GMG and Kupka scored later in the third on a wild pitch. Colin Teske added a double.

Zoske said confidence is everything for the Comets, who lost two of their last six games by one run.

“We have to know we’re better than our record,” Zoske said. “We’ve left a lot of wins out there, but on a night like tonight when things start rolling, we just have to decide that this is it, we’re just going to keep playing well and not leave anything to chance.”