Timely two-out hitting by Kirksville dogged the Fulton Hornets in their 6-3 North Central Missouri Conference road loss to the Tigers on April 2.
When the newly state-ranked Tigers came to Fulton for Tuesday night's return matchup, the Hornets were again victimized by key Kirksville hits.
Fulton yielded eight runs with two outs to the Tigers in tumbling 10-5 at the high school athletic complex.
The Hornets (7-9, 4-5 NCMC) matched Kirksville's 14 hits, but couldn't transform them into enough offense to avoid a third consecutive loss.
"It was kind of a hitter's paradise today," Fulton head coach Darren Masek said. "Wind was blowing out, outfielders had to play deep and that opened up gaps and balls in front."
The Tigers - ranked No. 7 in Class 4 by the Missouri High School Baseball Coaches Association - opened the scoring on senior second baseman Grant Novinger's RBI double in the top of the first inning. Novinger then raced home to make it 2-0 when senior catcher Branden Beeler popped out to shallow right.
Sophomore right fielder Taylor Nelson scored Fulton's first run in the bottom of the second on sophomore second baseman Josh Quick's two-out, RBI single to right. Junior left fielder Zach Franklin advanced to third on the play.
Sophomore shortstop Devin Masek blooped the first pitch he saw directly in the path of Kirksville sophomore center fielder Michael Chrisman. Chrisman was credited with the inning-ending snag, but the call didn't sit well with Darren Masek, who spoke with the umpire after taking umbrage with a decision that cost the Hornets a pair of potential runs and the lead.
"The outfielder dove for the ball, the ball rolled loose, he rolled over and picked it up, and reached up with his hand and pulled the ball, and the umpire either A) didn't see it, or B) wasn't in position to see the play," Masek said. "And I got a little upset about it."
Fulton junior starter Tristan Steffens survived a bases-loaded scare in the third, but would suffer the brunt of the Tigers' assault in a six-run outburst in the fourth.
Steffens allowed a single to junior left fielder Joey Thomas to begin the inning, but the Hornets' defense doubled him up on senior left fielder Dylan Lewis' liner to third base.
Chrisman singled, moved to third on a Novinger double, then both scored when Beeler sent a Steffens offering back up the middle to extend Kirksville's advantage to 4-1. Senior third baseman Kylan Easley sent another two-run single past Steffens to push the the Tigers' cushion to five runs.
Steffens then walked junior shortstop Landon Motley and hit junior right fielder Deric Killday to load the bases before Masek ended his day after 3 2/3 innings.
Steffens gave up eight runs - seven earned - on 10 hits, walked three and struck out one in taking the loss.
"It was a tough day to pitch," Masek said. "He's a competitor and he wanted to do well, and they had a big inning there.
"... He didn't have his best stuff today, but bottom line is we didn't help a lot in the field and they're a good-hitting team."
Thomas singled home two more runs off Hornets sophomore reliever Alec Fleetwood as Kirksville sent 11 to the plate during the inning.
"There were a lot of things that kind of turned this game and that (inning) was one of the things that opened it up for them," Masek said. "We just didn't handle adversity very well that inning."
Quick doubled in Franklin, then scored with Fleetwood on Steffens' two-run single to draw Fulton within 8-4 in the bottom of the fourth.
Kirksville senior first baseman Joe Brawner ripped a two-out single off Fleetwood into center to plate his team's final two runs in the fifth.
Steffens' sacrifice fly in the sixth finished up the Hornets' scoring.
After lamenting a lack of hard-hit balls in a 9-5 home loss to the Fatima Comets on Monday night, Masek was pleased with the aggressiveness of his lineup against Kirksville. An errorless effort by the Tigers' defense - with some rangy plays from their outfielders - turned some of Fulton's more solidly-hit balls into long outs.
"We hit the ball really well today and had some hard-hit outs and had a couple of balls that I thought were going to get down and over in the outfield," Masek said. "... Their defense played well and didn't commit any errors.
"If you do that in high school baseball, you're going to win a lot of games."
Steffens finished 3-for-3 with a double, while Quick went 3-for-5 with two runs scored. Nelson and junior third baseman Trenton Clines were both 2-for-4, while Franklin, Fleetwood, Devin Masek and sophomore catcher Isaiah Pani each registered a hit.
"It was just small things here and there that were the difference," Darren Masek said of his team's slide. "We played two state-ranked teams in Fatima and Kirksville that are pretty highly ranked right there.
"We're right there."
The Hornets hit the road for an NCMC contest at Hannibal at 5 p.m. Thursday. Fulton pummeled the Pirates 15-4 in five innings at home on April 10.