Ace in the hole

PALMER — Matt Applegate likes to be aggressive on the mound.

“I basically try to go at everybody and end the at bat in three pitches,” the Kansas State righthander said.

In the sixth inning Friday, Applegate needed five pitches — to end three at bats.

The quick inning was part of a stellar outing, as Applegate pitched a seven-inning complete game two-hitter to lead the Mat-Su Miners to a 5-0 win over the Athletes in Action Fire during the second leg of a doubleheader at Hermon Brothers Field.

Applegate fanned four and didn’t walk a hitter to help the Miners score the doubleheader split. AIA used a pair of sixth-inning runs to grab a 5-3 win in Game 1.

“He did a great job,” Mat-Su head coach Brian Yocke said of Applegate, an Alaska Baseball League veteran who helped the Miners win a league title in 2010. “He worked quick, worked ahead on counts, made it easy for the defense.”

Applegate retired the first 11 batters he faced and didn’t allow an extra base hit in the win.

“I went out there and pitched to contact,” Applegate said. “I didn’t try to do too much.”

More often that not, Applegate recorded first-pitch strikes. AIA put the ball in play, but the Miners had a flawless game on defense. Applegate forced 10 fly-ball outs and seven groundouts.

“The balls found the defense and the defense played awesome tonight,” Applegate said.

Applegate spent most of his outing painting the corners with his fastball.

“I really didn’t throw a lot of off-speed. I was just working my fastball and throwing strikes,” Applegate said. “I had a couple of opportunities to try to do too much. But I feel like I was able to slow it down, throw fastballs and let it work, get some ground balls and get the outs.”

Applegate improved to 3-0 in four appearances and kept his earned run average at a team-best 0.00. Applegate also has a save.

The Kansas State junior is in his second season with the Miners and is a recent addition to the 2011 club. After finishing second on his team with 89.1 innings pitched during the spring, Applegate took a few weeks off before jumping in with a summer team.

“I threw a lot of innings at school. Coach gave me a couple options to stay around Kansas and throw with a couple teams or come up here,” Applegate said. “(The Miners) had a guy leave and it was about time for me to start throwing.”

Applegate contacted Mat-Su general manager Pete Christopher, who invited Applegate back for another summer.

“I like the community, everyone’s so supportive of the Miners,” Applegate said. “I have an awesome host family. I’ll keep grinding it out the next three weeks and go from there.”

Applegate, a starter at Kansas State, made his first three appearances this summer out of the bullpen. Friday marked his first start.

“I’m probably more comfortable starting. It’s just what I’ve done the last year,” Applegate said. “But I’ll do whatever coach wants me to do, whatever gives us a chance to win.”

With Applegate virtually untouchable on the mound, Stephen Branca helped provide the offense. Branca tripled and drove in a pair of runs in the win.

Branca gave the Miners the early 1-0 lead in the first, driving a triple into deep centerfield. Michael Gerlach scored on the play.

“He crushed it,” Yocke said. “That’s probably the hardest hit ball all year.”

The Miners added four runs on five hits in the second. After loading the bases, Gerlach and Ryan Ford notched back-to-back run-scoring singles to give Mat-Su the 3-0 lead. Branca drew a walk with the bases loaded to drive in another run. Cam Kneeland used an RBI single late in the inning to give the Miners the 5-0 lead.

In the first game, AIA scored twice during the sixth to break a tie and score the go-ahead runs during the 5-3 win over the Miners.

The Miners took an early 3-0 lead in the loss. Kevin Lum singled with the bases loaded to drive in Wesley Jones and give the Miners the 1-0 lead. Ford followed with an RBI single, and Adam Martin scored on a ground out later in the inning to give the Miners the 12-7 lead.

Mat-Su is now 12-7 in league play after the doubleheader.

Contact sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/matsu_sports.