Spikes Lose 4th Straight

UNIVERSITY PARK -- The State College Spikes lost their fourth straight game on Thursday evening to the Oneonta Tigers 4-3 at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. Moises Robles (1-4) was tagged with the loss after allowing four runs on ten hits over 6.1 innings of work. 

For the second night in a row, Oneonta jumped out to an early lead. The Tigers scored twice in the third and once more in the fourth on Chris Carlson’s league leading fifth home run of the season to take a 3-0 advantage. The Spikes cut into the deficit an inning later on a double-play grounder that scored Erik Huber and made the score 3-1.

 That is how it would stay until the seventh, when Oneonta tacked on what proved to be a much needed insurance run on an RBI single off the bat of Mike Sullivan to make the score 4-1. The Spikes answered quickly, however, scoring twice in the bottom of the frame to get right back in the game. 

Huber was once again at the heart of the rally, getting things started with a double and then moving to third on a Michael Ambrose single. Once the Spikes had runners on the corners, a pair of throwing errors by Oneonta hurler Paul Nardozzi allowed the Spikes to move within a run at 4-3.

The Spikes had a chance to draw even in the ninth inning after Ambrose singled and pinch-hitter Daniel Rios was hit by a pitch to put a pair of runners on with only one out. But the game ended when Matt Cavagnaro grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to end the ballgame.

Right-hander Sean Finefrock (1-1) got the win for the Tigers after tossing 6.0 solid innings, allowing only one run on five hits.

The Spikes will look to salvage the series finale on Friday evening when they take on the Tigers at 7:05 p.m. The early-season ace of the Spikes staff, Tony Watson (3-0), will make the start for State College. After tomorrow’s affair, the Spikes open a three-game series against the Brooklyn Cyclones on Saturday.