Spikes Drop ValleyCats for Second Straight Game
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Updated: July 5, 2012
Rodriguez (1-0) retired the first nine batters he faced on the night before allowing a leadoff single to Austin Elkins in the fourth inning. However, the southpaw quickly recovered to force Neiko Johnson to hit into a double play.
In the fifth inning, the process repeated itself when Rodriguez hit Jesse Wierzbicki with a pitch, but forced Jobduan Morales to line into a double play. Rodriguez also added a strikeout to pick up his first win in a State College (10-8) uniform.
The Spikes took the lead in the first inning when Jodaneli Carvajal drew a leadoff walk and scored on Barrett Barnes's double. State College then added to the lead in the second inning when Yhonathan Barrios reached base on an error, swiped his team-leading sixth base of the year to get to second, and came home on Carvajal's single to center.
De Leon yielded the second and third Tri-City (13-5) hits in the sixth inning, and gave up the ValleyCats' lone run when Jarrod McKinney doubled, got to third on a groundout, and scored on a wild pitch. The Spikes' reliever rebounded to yield just one more hit in the seventh, though, and left the mound with the Spikes maintaining a one-run lead.
Cooper (1) finished off the Spikes' victory with a six-out save, allowing one hit and one walk while striking out one. State College catcher Ryan Hornback also provided ample help in the ninth inning, throwing out two baserunners trying go from first to second in the final frame.
Barnes and Samuel Gonzalez produced multiple-hit games for the Spikes, who clinched their second series victory on the road with Thursday's win.
ValleyCats starter Brady Rodgers (1-1), the third-round draft choice of the Astros in 2012, took his first professional loss after giving up both Spikes runs, one of them earned, on five hits and three walks while hitting one batters and striking out six.
From State College Spikes reports:
