Clearwater's Cole Ezell slides head first into home with the tying run in the seventh inning Wednesday at Doniphan. (Brad Hurt/DAR)

By BRAD HURT ~ DAR Sports Writer

DONIPHAN -- The Clearwater Tigers found the odds stacked against them Wednesday, but they still found a way to come out of Doniphan with a 2-1 win in nine innings as Daniel Smith led off the ninth with a home run to center field.

The Tigers trailed 1-0 entering the seventh but put the leadoff man on and drove him in to force extra innings, giving Smith the chance to win it.

"Coach told me to choke up and put a good swing on it, and I just choked up and looked for a good pitch over the middle of the plate " Smith said. "I got it and put the hammer on it."

Cole Ezell got the Tigers started in the seventh inning with a base hit to center field. A sacrifice bunt by Brandon Smith advanced him to second base, and he scored on a single to left by Logan Morris, who was then thrown out trying to take second on the throw to the plate.

"Heart and resiliency are words that come to mind right now," Clearwater coach Justin Dobbins said.

Morris went the distance for the Tigers, allowing a run on six hits while striking out 10 and walking three. He retired the Dons in order four times, including the first three innings.

"I can't say enough about Logan Morris," Dobbins said. "That's as good a pitching performance by a freshman as you'll see."

After Morris and Doniphan's Daniel Newman dueled for four scoreless innings, the Dons struck first in the fifth with consecutive two-out doubles by Travis Moe and Dalton Pennington to score their only run.

"That helped us out there when we took the lead, but I knew one run wasn't going to keep it," Doniphan coach John Mark Merriman said. "One run in this league, you need more than that for a cushion."

The Dons had two runners on with no outs in the eighth before Morris retired the next three hitters in order and they got a leadoff single from Jordan Casteel in the ninth, but stranded him on second.

Merriman said his team was just a little anxious offensively.

"We had too many strikeouts," he said. "We should have been more selective at the plate."

Newman held the Tigers at bay for most of the game as he never faced more than one baserunner in an inning until the seventh. He left with a no-decision after allowing a run on six hits with five strikeouts and three walks.

"Newman stepped up and went seven innings for us before we brought in Brock (Johnson)," Merriman said.

Johnson picked up a crucial double play to end the eighth inning as Moe picked Hime off first base following a strikeout by Trey Hill.

Wednesday's game continued an evenly-matched rivalry at the top of the OFC, as the Tigers avenged a 5-4 loss in the semifinals of the conference tournament this fall.

"We beat them in the championship tournament, but they beat us in a 13-inning game before that so we knew going in it would be a tough one," Merriman said.

The Tigers frustrated their coach at times during the game as they made a few baserunning mistakes in key situations.

"We made some baserunning goof-ups there in key situations, and everybody could have gotten mad and just laid over and died, but we came through with some big hits and big plays " Dobbins said.

Notes: Ezell finished the day 2-for-4 with a run scored for the Tigers, while Daniel Smith's home run was his only hit of the game. Four other Tigers picked up a hit in the game. … Doniphan was led by Pennington, who went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Moe finished 1-for-4 with a run scored and three other Dons had hits in the game. … Immediately following Smith's home run, Ezell was hit by a pitch but was called back for leaning too far over the plate. Dobbins protested the call and was ejected from the game.