Major Osbolt and Cole ReSue combined to throw a two-hit shutout in Science Hill’s 3-0 win over Bearden on Saturday at TVA Credit Union Ballpark.
Osbolt had seven strikeouts and gave up just one hit and one walk over five innings. ReSue closed the game with two strikeouts, one hit and one walk over the final two innings. Osbolt said the key was staying ahead of the batters.
“It was all about getting ahead in the counts, throwing the off-speed pitch and locating it,” Osbolt said. “Then, I was able to throw the fastball in. We have a good bullpen along with our starting pitchers.”
The Hilltoppers (24-9) finished the week with their fourth win in six days and the game was just hours after bouncing back from a 9-5 loss against T.C. Roberson from Asheville.
There wasn’t much offense as Sam Lane, Landon Smelser, Lucas Dye, Caden Wells and Osbolt each had one hit. Much Science Hill’s win against John Battle on Thursday, it was a case where there was production throughout the lineup.
“Every lineup you put together, you want it to be one through nine,” Science Hill coach Ryan Edwards said. “You don’t to have dead spots. That’s what we’ve been trying to do, mixing things up all year long, trying to find the right mixture. These guys are getting more comfortable and they’re swinging hot bats at the bottom of the order.”
Wells and Dye have been particularly effective lately. Besides each getting a hit, each scored a run. Smelser drove in Wells to score, while Dye scored off a Sam Lane bunt.
“I’ve just been trying to make good contact and have good at-bats,” Dye said. “I seem to be seeing the ball better and we’re trying to be aggressive when we’re on base to take advantage of our opportunities. I saw Sam Lane get down (his bunt) and I tried to be aggressive to get a cushion with our lead.”
Osbolt had a RBI single in the first inning to score Lane and the other two runs came the next inning. It was the Hilltoppers’ eighth win in their last 10 games and it came against the Bulldogs (20-8) who had won four of their previous five games.
“I really feel like we’re playing all three phases of the game well right now,” Edwards said. “We had a little hiccup yesterday, but this whole week, we gave up three bad innings. We gave up a five-spot in the Boone game and two four-spots yesterday after we had a one-run lead.
“We’ve played six great teams in six days. I told the guys to keep plugging away and let’s finish the week off with a win. That’s what they did.”
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