Spikes Throttle Spinners

UNIVERSITY PARK – The State College Spikes had a record setting night at the ballpark on Tuesday evening. The team pounded out a record 12 runs on 14 hits including the first back-to-back-to-back home runs in team history en route to a 12-2 victory over the Lowell Spinners. Bobby Spain lead the offensive outburst with a 3-for-4 evening including a home run and four RBI.

After waiting through a 62 minute rain delay, the Spikes wasted no time getting on the scoreboard. Brian Friday got the bottom of the first started with a double off the left field wall and later scored on a sacrifice fly from Justin Byler to open the scoring. An inning later the lead grew courtesy of a Marcus Davis home run, his seventh of the year, to make the score 2-0.

After a scoreless third, the Spikes bats got the fourth inning started in a big way. Byler, Andrew Walker and Bobby Spain hit three consecutive home runs on six pitches to start the inning and push the Spikes lead to 5-0 after four. For Walker and Spain it was their first professional home runs.

The offensive onslaught continued in the fifth inning and once again it was Byler and Spain at the center of the action, as each slugger had an RBI single to make it 7-0. In the sixth, the Spikes offense tacked on five more runs to give the Spikes a dozen on the evening. Marcus Davis and Nick Stillwagon each walked to start the inning and Brian Friday drove home the first run of the inning with an RBI double. Keanon Simon followed suit with a two-RBI single to center that made the score 10-0 in favor of the Spikes. The inning looked like it would come to an end when Andrew Walker struck out, but the third strike eluded the Spinners catcher Ty Weeden and allowed him to reach first safely. Bobby Spain then rounded out the Spikes scoring with a booming two-RBI double to straight away center field to balloon the lead to 12-0.

The Spinners finally got on the board with a single run in the seventh off Nicolas Suero (2-3), but that is all the offense they would be able to muster off of the Spikes starter. Suero allowed only the one run on five hits over his six innings of work. Lowell tacked on another run in the ninth off of reliever Harrison Bishop to make the finale score 12-2.

The Spikes (23-24) will look to get back to the .500 mark tomorrow evening when they take on the Spinners in the middle game of three. RHP Duke Welker (2-1, 2.10) will make the start for the Spikes tomorrow evening for the 7:05 p.m. start. The State College Spikes will celebrate breast cancer awareness night, with the Spikes wearing special pink jerseys that will be auctioned off throughout the game with all of the proceeds benefiting the Mount Nittany Medical Center Breast Cancer Center. In addition, the first 2,000 women in attendance will receive a pink hat courtesy of Mount Nittany Medical Center.