PRATT, Kan. — The Hutchinson Salthawks baseball team had not swept an opponent in a doubleheader in three years, but that changed with a pair of wins over Pratt on Thursday at Smoky Ford Field.
The doubleheader sweep was the first since the Salthawks swept Wichita West in the 2021 season.
Hutchinson (2-1) won game one, 6-1, before completing the sweep with a 10-7 come-from-behind win in game two.
The Salthawks will travel to Wichita to face McPherson in a doubleheader on Tuesday at Riverfront Stadium, home of the Wichita Wind Surge.
The Greenbacks travel to Great Bend for a doubleheader on Saturday.
GAME 1: Hutchinson 6, Pratt 1
Juju Lyons pitched 4 1/3 strong innings on the mound to earn the win, while allowing four hits and striking out two.
The Salthawks scored all six of their runs in three consecutive innings, one in the third, one in the fourth and three in the fifth.
Hutchinson scored its first run of the game on an RBI single to left field for Landon Parks, scoring Lyons.
The Salthawks scored its second run of the game on a wild pitch that scored Cole Bleything from third. Caiden Beavers and Bleything led the fourth inning off with back-to-back singles to get the inning started.
Hutch scored three in the fifth inning thanks to help from the Pratt pitching staff. The Salthawks had its first four batters reach in the inning, scoring the first of three runs on another RBI single to left by Parks after Pratt intentionally walked Carter Morgan to load the bases. Jack Yoder and Bleything each drove a run in by walking with the bases full.
Jayden Miess took the loss for Pratt, going four innings, allowing five hits and two runs. Miess also led the Greenbacks offense with two of the five hits.
GAME 2: Hutchinson 10, Pratt 7
The Salthawks scored three in the top of the seventh inning to break a 7-7 tie and secure the three-run lead and the win to complete the sweep of the Greenbacks.
Hutchinson struck for one in the top of the first on an RBI groundout by Lakin Franz. Pratt then countered with two runs in the bottom of the first, scoring a pair of runs on an RBI single by Owen Schmidt and an RBI groundout by Josiah Schmidt.
The Greenbacks plated two more runs in the third inning on a two-out two-run single by Cresten Pore.
Hutchinson tied the game with a four-run third inning thanks to four Pratt errors. The Salthawks' only hit in the inning was a single by Beavers.
Cole Bleything gave the Salthawks a 6-4 lead in the fifth inning with a two-run double over the right fielders head, scoring Franz and Beavers.
Pratt answered right back with a three-run inning, as four straight Greenbacks reached to start the inning. The Greenbacks led 7-6 heading to the sixth inning.
Hutchinson tied the game on an RBI double by Parks in the sixth inning that scored Jack Davis.
The Salthawks then scored three in the top of the seventh inning, including a big RBI double by Gabe Valadez and an RBI single by Morgan. The Pratt defense struggled once again, committing two errors in the inning to help lead to a Salthawk run.
Morgan shut the door in the bottom of the seventh inning on the mound, including catching a comebacker to double-off a Greenback at first. He would earn the win, tossing three innings of shutout baseball.
Parks (2 for 5, RBI) and Beavers (3 for 4) each had a multi-hit game for the Salthawks offense. Hutchinson pounded out a season-high 12 hits in the win.