WINNEMUCCA - Coming off a weekend to forget, the Lowry High School varsity baseball team had a plan to right the ship as it made its way to Lovelock on Tuesday.
With just one day of practice to work on some of the mistakes that resulted in three losses to Elko, the Buckaroos bounced back in a big way with a 10-1 victory over Pershing County.
"We saw a lot of things that we wanted to see," said LHS head coach Ron Espinola. "They were things that we specifically worked on Monday that we saw from the weekend. We just got back to doing the simple things. It was a huge day for us. The kids came out with a good attitude and were more focused in. Pershing County is better than what they were at the beginning of the season. (Jared) Jensen threw well for them. He has some nice velocity. He just overthrew at times."
Lowry (13-9 overall, 8-4 Division I-A North, 5-4 Ruby Mountain League) took advantage of three consecutive walks by Jensen to start the game. Calvin Connors, Thomas Schwartz and Jesse Studebaker all received base on balls.
Tyler Brumm made the senior pay for his control issues, hitting a triple to score two runs to make the score 3-0 Lowry. Connors crossed home plate before the triple on a wild pitch. Brandon Okuma closed out the frame with a single to right field that scored Brumm.
The Buckaroos added a single run in the top of the fourth inning, as Studebaker singled with one out. Following an error and past ball, he came around to score to up the margin to 5-0.
Studebaker scored his third run of the game in the fourth inning and Mickey Donovan, up from the junior varsity team, singled home Tanner Lecumberry, who also had a hit in the inning. Michal Arenas increased the advantage to 9-0 in the fifth inning with an inside-the-park home run. Arenas hit a line drive to right field, where the outfielder attempted to make the play but could not make a diving catch.
Pershing County scored its lone run in the bottom of the sixth inning on the strength of back-to-back hits by Jensen and Jesus Cruz.
Lowry tacked on an insurance run in the seventh on a double play ground out that scored Tytin Johnson.
The Buckaroos used a combination of six pitchers to get the victory. Aaron Nelson started the first inning and gave up two hits and no runs to earn the victory. Jalen Formby, Dusty Bryan and Colton Lacy pitched the second, third and fourth innings, respectively. The trio allowed one hit apiece and combined for four strikeouts, with Lacy accounting for two of them. Lecumberry saw action in the fifth and sixth innings and Brumm closed out the game in the seventh, which included a strikeout.
"We had a plan on what we wanted to do with our pitchers," Espinola said. "We needed to get them some work in."
Studebaker led Lowry with three hits, while Daniel Pollock and Connors each had two.
"We need to pay better attention on what we do," added the coach. "We scout the opposing team on everything and we have not been scouting on our team. We need to do a better job of that as a coaching staff. We just have to remind them - there is a bigger picture out there to help themselves."
The Buckaroos close out the regular season this weekend against Battle Mountain, today at 4 p.m. The two schools play a doubleheader on Saturday at 11 a.m.
Lowry begins its Division I-A postseason run on Thursday, May 2 and Friday, May 3, with the opening round of the regional playoffs.
"We have a rather lengthy list of things for us to work on this week," Espinola said. "We are not going to get through all of them, but try to hit the major issues. We will follow up next week on what we have to improve on after Battle Mountain."
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