The Spikes took the rubber game of a three
game series on Friday evening, topping the Williamsport Crosscutters by the
score of 4-2. The win moved the Spikes record to 12-6 and kept them in
first place in the Pinckney Division.
After matching zeroes in the first
inning, State College broke the scoreless tie
in the bottom of the second. Back-to-back singles by Andrew
Walker and Miles Durham put runners on
the corners with nobody out, and after a ground-ball double play scored Walker the Spikes had
taken the 1-0 edge. The ‘Cutters answered quickly, however, scoring in
their next turn at-bat on an RBI ground-out from D’Arby Myers to tie the game
at one apiece.
The Spikes kept the see-saw scoring
going in their half of the third as their two hottest hitters combined to bring
a run home. Austin McClune, who is eight for his
last 13, started the rally with a single to center and came around to score on Michael
Ambrose’s double that gave the Spikes a 2-1
edge. Ambrose’s hit raised his average to .474 over his last five
games.
The lead swelled to 3-1 in the fifth
as State College manufactured a run. Marcus
Davis started the frame with a single and then stole second
base. A throwing error from Williamsport
catcher Tim Kennelly moved him to third. McClune followed with an RBI
single to push the Spikes lead to 3-1.
That is how the score would stay
until the seventh inning, as Spikes starter Tony Watson (3-0)
was mowing down the ‘Cutters. The 9th round selection in the
2007 draft allowed only one earned run on five hits over 6.2 innings of
work. After he left the game, Williamsport
brought home an unearned run to make the score 3-2.
State
College tacked on an important insurance run in the bottom of
the seventh when Ambrose executed a perfect safety squeeze to score Smelin
Perez from third and push the Spikes lead to 4-2.
Adam Simon and Taylor Cameron combined
to pitch a scoreless eighth for the Spikes, but in the ninth the Crosscutters
threatened to tie the game. After a walk and a single put two runners on
for Williamsport,
Ronald Uviedo was summoned from the bullpen to close out
the game. A sacrifice bunt moved both runners into scoring position, but
also gave the Spikes the first out of the inning. Uviedo then struck out
Myers and Freddy Galvis to leave the tying runs in scoring position
and pick up fourth save of the season.
The Spikes will make the 481 mile
trip to Vermont Saturday to begin a three-game
set with the Lake
Monsters before taking advantage
of a league wide off-day on Tuesday. The Spikes will return to Medlar
Field at Lubrano Park on Wednesday to take on the Oneonta
Tigers for the first of six straight home games. For more information, click here.
