Bulls

The Bulls took a really tough loss at the hands of the Medicine Hat Mavericks on Sunday afternoon to open up the 2016 WMBL Playoffs. A true pitchers duel took place at Athletic Park on Sunday, and Jared Libke of the Mavs came out on top. The PBA right-hander went all 10 innings giving up only 3 hits and striking out 10 Bulls batters. Libke’s only mistake was a homerun he gave up to Lachlan Mayo in the top of the 3rd inning. For the Bulls, freshman Landen Bourassa matched Libke through 7 innings allowing only 1 Medicine Hat run while surrendering only 5 hits. Both teams played good defence behind their starting pitchers and the game flew into the late innings. Mackenzie Major came in relief of Bourassa and threw up zeros in the 8th and 9th innings to give the Bulls a chance to make a rally. Rally they could not though. Libke kept the Bulls hitters off balance all night pounding the strike zone and changing speeds very effectively. A one out single in the bottom of the 10th scored the walk-off run for the Mavericks, and left the Bulls searching for answers. 

It was a tough game to swallow for the Bulls who had a golden opportunity to get out of Medicine Hat with game 1. The top 4 hitters in the Bulls lineup struggled on Sunday combining to go 0-15. It was a testament to how well Libke threw. In the regular season these 4 hitters combined to hit .329 with 44 2B, 6 3B, 25 HR and 127 RBI. You can be sure that the top of the order will get back to swinging it tonight in Medicine Hat when the Bulls look to salvage a split and return to Lethbridge with home field advantage for the remaining 3 games.

Game time tonight is 7:05pm. in Medicine Hat. The Bulls will be in home playoff action on Tuesday night at 7:05pm Spitz Stadium. Please make sure you come out and support the Bulls Tuesday! You can get tickets at the Spitz Stadium Office, online, or by calling 403-320-2025.