Free State junior Finn Moore tossed seven innings of shutout baseball as Free State defeated Arkansas City 5-0 to conclude the River City Baseball Festival on Saturday at Hoglund Ballpark.

“I thought he did a good job,” head coach Mike Hill said. “We didn’t expect seven out of him today, but he pitched to contact, (and) was able to get a couple (of) strikeouts. I thought he did a great job at just being competitive, which he is, so we really needed that.”

In Moore’s third start of the year, and first following a loss to Pembroke Hill last Saturday, the Air Force commit struck out six batters, allowing two hits and three walks in the outing.

“Just the mindset was ‘Go in there and throw strikes, trust my defense,'” Moore said. “We’ve got a lot of really good defensive players on our team, and I trust them with everything I’ve got.”

Moore added that the win, his first pitching win of the season, felt good, as he feels he’s starting to turn the corner.

“I personally have been struggling a lot lately, and it’s hard to work through that in baseball,” Moore said. “I feel like I’m finally starting to break through, and I feel like most of that credit is to my coaches and teammates.”

Offensively, the Firebirds mustered five runs on eight hits, showing positive moments at times, but Hill says the offense was “a little inconsistent again” and that the team still has strides to take in the back half of the season.

Moore allowed the first batter he faced to reach base on an error but picked off the same runner for the first out. A strikeout and a flyout afterwards allowed Moore to retire the side in order.

Two runs came across in the bottom of the first for Free State. Senior Ben Graves was hit by a pitch before scoring on a triple by Moore. Junior Charlie Griffith, running for Moore, scored the second run on a sacrifice fly by junior Owen Lester.

The Bulldogs hit a single with one out before a fielder’s choice and a groundout ended the inning. Arkansas City starter Landen Larson made quick work of the Firebirds in the second, retiring the side after facing just three batters.

Moore returned the favor by sending Arkansas City down in order in the third before Free State added on to its lead. Junior Ryker Mahnke led off the inning with a single, and Moore reached base with a walk. With two outs, Mahnke came home on a double by senior Zane Shaw to make the lead 3-0.

Neither offense had success in the fourth inning. Arkansas City’s first threat of the game came in the top of the fifth, as it began the inning with a single and a walk before pitching coach Steve Abney made a mound visit. Moore settled in following the break in action, inducing a fielder’s choice and a flyout and getting out of the inning with a strikeout.

Leading off the inning once again, Mahnke drove a ball into the left-center-field gap for a triple and scored on a groundout by Graves. The Firebirds added another run in the inning as junior Ferris Dinkel drove in Lester with a single.

Moore allowed two free bases with one out in the sixth, hitting a batter and walking the next, but he got the second out with a fielder’s choice and kept the Bulldogs scoreless with a groundout.

Only three Firebird hitters came to the plate in the bottom of the sixth, as the side was quickly retired. Moore returned to the mound for the seventh and struck out two batters in the seventh with the other out coming when a runner was caught stealing as the Firebirds improved to 14-3 on the season and finished the River City Festival 3-0.

Free State returns to Sunflower League play on Tuesday, hosting Shawnee Mission Northwest at 5:30 p.m.

“This is back to the grind of the Sunflower League,” Hill said. “Every game easily can be a coin flip. I think the message to the kids is that we’re going to continue to work, and we don’t think we’re at our ceiling, and that’s a good thing. We know what we have to improve upon, and we’ve got time to do it.”