Greenville adds to Mules’ home woes

Things are not so sweet at home for the Poplar Bluff Mules on the baseball diamond as they continue to come up short with the home-field advantage.

The Mules suffered their fourth loss in a row at home Tuesday after suffering an 8-1 loss to the Greenville Bears at Strenfel Field. With the loss, the Mules fall to 8-9 on the season.

Poplar Bluff returned home from a successful road trip in Tennesee, where the Mules won two of three games. They entered Tuesday’s game with a lot of momentum to end their losing skid at home, but errors can be costly when going up against a defending Class 2 state playoff team.

Greenville (11-1) took off early with a 2-0 lead within the first few innings. Junior Trey Porter doubled to center field to bring in a run and connected with a bomb to center field for a solo homer.

The Mules finally got a taste of home plate when freshman Marcus Tabenera blasted a groundball to third baseman Talan McDaniel, who failed to grasp the ball, resulting in Tabenera advancing to second base and Kolby Greenwall scoring to cut the Poplar Bluff deficit to 2-1 heading into the top of the fourth.

The Mules struggled to get much action going from the plate as Greenville pitcher Cooper Sturgeon was locked in for the entire game.

The game started to spiral out of control for the Mules in the top of the fifth when Greenville’s Willaim Friley connected with a double to left field, extending the Bears’ lead to 4-1. From then on, the Bears picked up the pace and connected with multiple hits to close out the Mules.

Noah Spain, Dylan Hall, Greenwall and Tabenera all connected with hits for the Mules.

Earlier this season, Mules coach John David Pattillo said he was looking for someone to step up as the Mules continue to find a path to come consistency. So far, he’s noticed a great improvement in how they battle in tough situations, but would like to limit the errors down the stretch.

With another opportunity to end the home skid, the Mules host Jackson (16-5) at 4:30 p.m. Thursday at Strenfel Field.