Koerper's batting elevates St. Joseph in 4-2 win over Carroll

Jun. 26—First baseman Karl Koerper led the charge in the St. Joseph Mustangs' 4-2 victory over the Carroll Merchants on Saturday at Phil Welch, going 3-for-5 at the plate and leading the game with three RBIs.

The Mustangs (15-7, 8-5 MINK) are on a five-game winning streak, something Koerper feels confident about.

"It feels good. We've gone through some struggles this season and lost some games we should have won, and now things are going our way," he said. "We have a good attitude, we're having fun, and we're competing."

Koerper drove in the first run of the game on a double in the bottom of the first, which the Merchants matched with a sacrifice fly in the top of the third. Carroll then took the lead with a single to centerfield by Jacob Rochester, before infielder Will Dryburg ran in for the Mustangs on a groundout by Noah Bodenhousen to even things up.

Enter Koerper in the sixth inning, who connected on a solo home run to take the lead. It was his second homer of the week, and of the year. Koerper also managed a one RBI single in the eighth inning to extend their lead.

He touched on his recent successes at the plate.

"Baseball's full of a lot of failure, some days you have it and some days you don't," Koerper said. "Earlier in the year I was going through some struggles offensively and I was able to keep working every single day and the results came. I just want to stay consistent and keep swinging."

In addition to Koerper's RBI in the eighth inning, Dryburg scored on a bases loaded walk and Mason Holton drove in Koerper on a single to take a 6-2 lead entering the ninth inning.

The Merchants scored twice, but were unable to keep outs off the board to go on the run they needed to keep the game alive.

Braden Berry got the win on the mound, allowing six hits and throwing five strikeouts in seven innings pitched.

Levi Smith can be reached at levi.smith@newspressnow.com.