What are the odds that you bat 4 times in one inning *and* make all 3 outs? Think about what kind of a statistical anomaly that is. While the player probably doesn't want that distinction for obvious reasons, it is I'd say fairly historical.
I know Ironwill reads/responds here so let's not get too crazy speculating... As far as I know him he's not like the coaches you read about that are trying to run up the score or rubbing it into some opponent. Walks, errors, hbp, seem to be how many runners moved in the inning.
As for pitching - do you throw someone you think can get the game over with as quickly as possible or someone else who may prolong the agony. As it was North scored 4 times in the 5th (there's a picture of a 33-3 score after 4). So they didn't just "give up". Baseball is a strange game, you never know what that will happen to you.... It's a snowball effect.