Muskogee upbeat after shutout loss to Tulsa Union

Nobody likes being on the losing end of a shut out, but coach Doug Gunselman wasn’t totally upset about it after his Muskogee Roughers fell 5-0 to the Tulsa Union Redskins at Muskogee’s diamond on Monday night.

“My thoughts are that Broken Arrow lost twice to the same guy (winning pitcher Cole Webb),” Gunselman. “I believe (Broken Arrow pitcher and former Muskogee hurler) Archie Bradley lost twice to this kid. Broken Arrow couldn’t score more than one run against this guy.

“When you take that into consideration and that it’s the sixth-ranked team, it was 2-0 (as late as the sixth inning) and we had an opportunity to win this game, I can’t be angry about it. We played as well as we have against any (Frontier) conference team. I’m happy with our effort.”

Losing pitcher John Singler (1-4) pitched a complete game.

For Muskogee (6-13), Dre Hamilton led off the bottom of the first inning with a single. It was one of three MHS hits in the game. The others were singles by Singler in the second and Mitch Stevenson in the seventh. Webb also struck out seven batters in pitching the complete game.

“The sticks come and go,” Gunselman, in his first season at MHS, said. “We’re streaky. I understand that. We can’t cry over spilt milk at this point. We have to go and battle. Hopefully, the bats will show up at regionals next week. We definitely have the bats to put runs on the board.”

Union (19-10) took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Tyler Alspsaugh singled home Josh Whisler. Whisler slapped a one-out triple to get on base and then scored. The Redskins got their other runs on two solo home runs and fielding errors in the seventh.

The Redskins had eight hits in the game.

Muskogee returns to its home diamond at 6:30 tonight when McAlester faces the Roughers on Senior Night. The seniors will be recognized in a ceremony at 6 p.m. The Roughers close out the regular season at Sapulpa at 1 p.m. Saturday.

MHS begins Class 6A regional playoff action next Tuesday at Broken Arrow against the Tigers at 4 p.m. Sand Springs and Ponca City are also in the same regional.