The Bombers overcame a slow start on offense with a three-run fifth inning, while Jacob Overton threw a strong complete game on the mound to help Ballard knock off the Cubs in a tightly-contested Raccoon River Conference affair.
Ballard trailed 2-1 going into the bottom of the fifth, when a Cub defensive mistake sparked the Bomber rally.
Nevada center fielder Matt Bosworth couldn't hang on to a fly ball by Nate Andersen during Ballard's first at-bat of the fifth, allowing Andersen to reach second base on the two-base error. Andersen later stole third and then crossed home plate on a balk to tie the score with one out.
Jeff Von Arb walked, stole second and then took third on the balk, and Ryan Bridgewater drove him home with the go-ahead run on an infield hit. Ballard eventually loaded the bases with two outs, then Mitchell Smith stepped up and lined a base hit to left field to give Ballard a 4-2 lead.
"I'd rather not have been down 2-1 and needed that inning," Ballard head coach Ben Ramsay said, "but there are times in the past where maybe we don't gut it out like that."
Nevada didn't go away after Ballard's rally, as the first two Cub batters reached base in the top of the sixth after Nick Sutton was safe on an infield hit and Curtis Borts was hit by a pitch. Alex Cross then singled in Sutton with one out to pull Nevada within a run.
Nevada threatened to pull ahead in the sixth by loading the bases with two outs, but Overton forced Cub designated hitter Tyler Olson to hit a grounder back to him on the mound, allowing Ballard to preserve its lead.
The Bombers were unable to get anything going in the bottom of the sixth, but it didn't matter. Von Arb retired Nevada in order in the top of the seventh to seal a tougher-than-expected victory for his team.
"A win is a win, and last year I would've taken a win like this hands down, but it wasn't my ideal win," Ramsay said. "I'm taking an objective look at what we've done and I felt we could've played better."
Ramsay said he was unhappy with the way his team executed at times during the game, especially in the early innings on offense. But one thing he was not displeased with was the performance of Overton on the mound.
The junior hurler held Nevada to seven hits, and he only had one walk with one hit batsman, while striking out four.
"Jacob does a really nice job of getting outs when he needs to get them," Ramsay said. "A lot of teams around here are looking for one of those types of pitchers. He did a great job of bearing down and throwing strikes."
Overton received help from a solid defensive effort from his teammates. Ballard only had one error as a team and the Bombers delivered a pair of double plays during the game.
Offensively, Ballard's only run outside of the fifth inning came in the first inning when Taylor Godwin singled in Von Arb with a two-out infield single. The Bombers only finished with six hits as a team, but they also drew four walks, tallied two steals and had one batter hit by a pitch, improving to 6-8 on the season and 2-4 in the RRC.
Godwin collected two singles, Ross Larson picked up a single and a walk and Smith, Bridgewater and Garret Alt each had one hit for Ballard. Von Arb didn't collect a hit, but he reached base three times by drawing two walks and getting hit by a pitch.
Borts collected two hits, a walk, a steal and a run and Sutton finished with two hits, a steal and two runs to lead Nevada at the plate. Ross Van Allen allowed one earned run on seven hits with five strikeouts in six innings of work to take the loss for the Cubs, who fell to 2-8 on the season and 0-4 in the RRC.
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N 000 201 0 - 3 7 1
B 100 030 X - 4 6 1
N: Ross Van Allen and Alex Cross
B: Jacob Overton and Josh Neville
WP: Overton
LP: Van Allen
