State College, P.A.- Catcher Rodolfo Duran‘s three hit night drove the Williamsport offensive outburst, as they handed the Spikes a 6-3 loss.
Spikes starting pitcher Anthony Ciavarella got off to a shaky start, walking both Jake Scheiner and Malvin Matos to lead off the ball game. After a set of wild pitches, Adam Haseley singled on a ground ball into center, plating Scheiner to give the Cutters an early 1-0 lead.
With Matos standing at 3rd base, Greg Pickett launched a Ciavarella offering to right field sending Ricardo Bautista to the wall, where Bautista made a leaping grab to rob Pickett of a three-run shot. Matos tagged and scored, giving Pickett the RBI, and extending the Williamsport lead to 2-0.
Luis Carrasco made quick work of the first two batters that he faced in the bottom of the 1st inning, but a Scott Hurst single was followed up by a Evan Mendoza RBI double to cut the lead to 2-1.
After the Mendoza double gave the Spikes the tying run in scoring position, Josh Lopez grounded a ball to short, that was misplayed by Jesus Asuaje that allowed Mendoza to score, tying the game at 2-2.
Greg Pickett extended his hit streak to eight games and in the process gave the Cutters the lead back with a RBI double, chasing home Adam Haseley in the top of the 3rd to give Williamsport a 3-2 lead.
Williamsport’s second lead was short lived as a Rodolfo Duran passed ball allowed Evan Mendoza to score from 3rd base to tie the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the 3rd inning. It was the second passed ball charged to Duran in the inning.
Cole Stobbe lead off the top of the 4th with a double to deep left field . Colby Fitch, making his Cutters debut, doubled to right-center to score Stobbe and give the Cutters a 4-3 lead. It was Fitch’s first RBI and extra base hit in his professional career.
Anthony Ciavarella was relieved after the Fitch double by Levi MaVorhis.
Cutters left fielder Malvin Matos was forced to leave the ball game in the 5th inning after being struck in the side of the helmet by a MaVorhis fastball. Matos looked dazed, but it is Phillies policy to take a player from a game when struck by a pitch in the head.
Luis Carrasco went the first five innings, allowing three runs on four hits and three walks, while striking out four. Of the three runs, only one of them was earned en route to his first win of the season.
Rodolfo Duran made up for his earlier miscue, driving a Noel Gonzalez offering deep to right center for a two RBI triple, scoring Cole Stobbe and Colby Fitch to give the Crosscutters a pair of insurance runs,bumping their lead to 6-3 in the 8th inning.
After Randy Alcantara went three shutout innings of relief, he gave way to Luis Ramirez in the bottom of the 9th inning.
Ramirez worked around a walk in the bottom of the 9th to close the door on the Spikes, earning his 2nd save of the season and 2nd in as many nights against the Spikes.
The Crosscutters return home to wrap up their series against the State College Spikes tomorrow night. Kyle Young makes a bid for his fourth win of the season, making his first home start of 2017. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. At BB&T Ballpark at Historic Bowman Field.
Cutter Carvings – Greg Pickett’s 8 game hitting streak is the longest by a Crosscutter this season… Adam Haseley and Rodolfo Duran each finished the night with three hits… Jesus Asuaje and Colby Fitch each made their Crosscutters debuts in the game… Williamsport improved to 3-1 against the Spikes in 2017…
