Hurst, Cardinals break out for 12-run inning

The Cardinals sent 15 batters to the plate, collected nine hits and scored 12 times. And that was just the second inning.
Scott Hurst led the offensive barrage -- accounting for a pair of hits, RBIs, and runs in the second and finishing 4-for-5 with a walk and another run scored -- as Class A Advanced Palm Beach outlasted Florida, 16-10, at Osceola County Stadium on Wednesday afternoon. The teams combined for 29 hits and six long balls.

Gameday box score
The 16 runs were a new season high for the Cardinals -- topping their previous mark of 14 -- and the 17 hits equaled the squad's season best.
"It was a good time. It was fun," Hurst said with a chuckle. "Our game plan was to be aggressive and to be able to come out like that was kind of ridiculous. We were just getting good pitches to hit and not missing them."
The four-hit effort by Hurst is his first of the season. The third-round pick in last year's Draft was promoted from Class A Peoria on Aug. 1 and went 0-for-20 through his first five games with Palm Beach, but has rebounded to go 10-for-12 with four doubles and seven runs scored in his last three contests.
"It took me a few days to get used to it here, but I'm doing great now," he said. "I came in struggling a little, but I didn't change too much. My swing felt good, I think it was just a matter of getting my timing back and waiting for pitches that you wanna hit, and I'm doing that again and good things are happening right now."
After Brian O'Keefe worked a six-pitch walk off No. 21 Braves prospectHuascar Ynoa (0-2) to get the second started, Hurst turned around the first offering he saw from the right-hander and lined a single into center. Ryan McCarvel followed with another walk to load the bases for Irving Lopez, who scorched an RBI base knock into center on an 0-2 pitch.
Stefan Trosclair worked his own six-pitch walk to re-load the bases, then Chase Pinder, No. 10 St. Louis prospectConner Capel and 13th-ranked Dylan Carlson each followed with RBI knocks to give Palm Beach a 7-0 advantage.
Hurst stepped to the plate again after an infield pop up by O'Keefe, and laced a 3-2 offering from southpaw Dan Lietz to left that plated two more runs. From there, Lopez singled again and Trosclair capped the scoring in the frame with a three-run moonshot to right-center off the eighth pitch he saw from Lietz.
"The old saying is, 'hitting is contagious.' Well, I think we just proved it right there," said Hurst.
The 22-year-old right fielder led off the fourth and hit a ground ball the other way for a single into right. He was later stranded at third. After grounding into a fielder's choice to end the next inning, Hurst drew a six-pitch walk off Kurt Hoekstra in the eighth and came around to score on a ground-rule double off the bat of Kramer Robertson two hitters later.
"I put myself into hitters counts and capitalized on pitcher's mistakes today," Hurst said. "I didn't chase, and I got some great pitches to hit and didn't miss them."
Hurst picked up his fourth hit off the fourth different pitcher he faced, Marcus Mooney. The Cal State Fullerton product went the other way again and legged out an infield single to first in the ninth.

"A day like today definitely helps. But, I would still say my confidence now is the same as it was when I was struggling, and that's because you have to stay positive in this game," he said. "When things are going bad, you have to know it's going to turn around and just keep playing hard. It's such a big thing to keep a good mindset and trust the process because good things are going to happen."
Pinder, Capel and Juan Yepez finished with a pair of RBIs apiece and Trosclair drove in a career-best five runs.
Ian Oxnevad (5-6) picked up his second straight victory despite allowing six runs on eight hits with two walks over five frames. The lefty fanned three.
The Fire Frogs did not go down without a fight, and closed the gap to 12-9 after the seventh. 2014 first-rounder Braxton Davidson went yard twice and drove in four, while Hoekstra and Lucas Herbert also added roundtrippers for Florida.