Kelly defeats mistake-prone Bulldogs in conference play

The Kelly Hawks capitalized on Notre Dame mistakes to defeat the Bulldogs 7-5 in SEMO Conference baseball action Thursday.

"It was one of our better all-round performances," Kelly coach Cory Johnson said. "We still had some holes, but anytime you can come out with a win at Notre Dame, playing against a traditionally good, well-coached team, that's always a big win for any program."

Notre Dame (6-6, 4-3) was charged with four errors, but committed a couple of mental blunders as well, leading to three unearned runs and a fourth score that likely could have been averted.

"The fundamental things, but mainly the mental mistakes, have been killing us all year long," said Notre Dame coach Jeff Graviett, whose team averages three errors per game. "Kelly was a good enough team to take advantage of it today."

Kelly opened a 1-0 lead in the first, but the Bulldogs bounced back with two in their half of the inning, thanks in part to Dylan Drury's triple that drove in one. Drury knocked in another run in the third with a single.

Kelly took advantage of two mental errors by the Bulldogs in the fourth to score a pair.

"We're just not focused mentally and it's frustrating for the coaches," Graviett said. "We feel like we're doing the job of trying to get them mentally prepared and it's just not there."

The Hawks (4-5, 2-4) broke the game open with four runs in the sixth inning.