MWL1 Quad Cities River Bandits

Buckman, Walters Lead Swing To Victory In Lansing

Published on May 8, 2007 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Quad Cities River Bandits News Release


Brandon Buckman launched his league-leading eighth home run of the year as part of a two-out, five-run rally in the third inning, and P.J. Walters allowed just one hit over four frames in a 7-4 Swing of the Quad Cities win over the Lansing Lugnuts Tuesday night at Oldsmobile Park.

Quad Cities (18-14) got another big effort from Buckman, who has hit safely in all eight games during the month of May while racking up a .500 (14-28) batting average, three home runs, and 13 RBI in the process. Lansing (16-12) has now lost six of their last seven contests.

After playing a doubleheader in Cedar Rapids on Monday night and traveling to Lansing Tuesday morning, nobody would have been surprised if Quad Cities had opened their series with the Lugnuts sluggishly. But after falling behind 2-0 in the first, the Swing stirred up a little two-out magic in the form of six consecutive two-out hits in the third.

After the first two batters were retired on just three pitches, Jim Rapoport kept the inning alive by poking a groundball double down the third base line. Christian Lopez then battled to a full count and drew a walk, setting the stage for Buckman to drive a laser down the right field line that left the yard in a flash to increase his league-leading RBI total to 32.

Suddenly with a 3-2 lead, Quad Cities continued to rally. Still with two outs in the third, Mark Shorey rolled a single through the right side of the infield and Luke Gorsett beat out a bouncer down the third base line for an infield base hit. Chris Grossman promptly cleaned up the mess, drilling a two-run double into the alley in right-center for the 5-2 advantage.

The Swing put two more on the board in the fifth. With the bases loaded and nobody out Gorsett sent a chopper towards the hole at shortstop to advance everybody 90 feet and score a run. Grossman followed by grounding into a double play that allowed Buckman to trot home from third, pushing the lead to 7-2.

P.J. Walters (2-1) picked up the win in a scorer's decision after entering in the sixth inning with a 7-4 lead. The South Alabama product struck out five while retiring 12 of the 13 batters that he faced, with a two-out single in the seventh by Brian Pettway serving as the only exception.

After a shaky first inning, Elvis Hernandez settled down to hold the Lugnuts hitless after the first. The righty rebounded from a two-run, three-hit opening inning to retire 10 of the last 12 batters that he faced.

TICKETS: Tickets for all events at John O'Donnell Stadium can be purchased by calling the Swing of the Quad Cities ticket office at (563) 328-2000, coming to the box office located at the stadium along South Gaines Street, or by logging on to www.swingbaseball.com.

UP NEXT: The Swing are on the road through May 14 for a 10-game trip that includes stops in Cedar Rapids, Lansing, and Burlington. They will return to John O'Donnell Stadium for a 10-game homestand from May 14-24, beginning an extended home stretch in which 14 of their next 18 games will be played in Davenport. All Swing games feature a radio broadcast that can be heard on The Truth AM-1270 or online at www.swingbaseball.com, with the pre-game show starting 15 minutes prior to scheduled first pitch.

Check out the Quad Cities River Bandits Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Midwest League Stories from May 8, 2007


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central