Defenders split with B-Mets
July 28, 2008 - Eastern League (EL1)
Connecticut Defenders News Release
BINGHAMTON, NY- The Defenders and Mets split a double-header on Monday night as Connecticut dropped game one, 4-1 but came back in thrilling fashion in the second contest with a 5-3 victory.
Game one of the double-header was a continuation of a contest that was suspended due to rain on July 19. Connecticut had a 1-0 lead in the game on a Carlos Sosa home run but the Mets rallied late to flip the script.
The Defs and Mets exchanged zeroes for five and a half innings as Connecticut was controlling a 1-0 advantage. Salvador Paniagua broke the silence with a solo homer in the eighth off of Adam Cowart who came in to relieve Jason Waddell. At the end of eight, it was Connecticut, 1, Binghamton, 1.
Kelvin Pichardo took the ball next to try and preserve the tie and send the game into extra innings but the righty struggled. After giving up a base hit, Pichardo clipped Salomon Manriquez with a pitch and the dangerous Paniagua stepped up to the plate. After surveying what Pichardo had to offer, Paniagua sent a towering walk-off three-run homer over the left field wall to give the Mets a 4-1 win.
The Defenders looked as if they were on their way to dropping two games in one day as they struggled in the early-goings of the second matchup. Dan Murphy lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to score Jonathon Malo from third to give the Mets an early 1-0 lead.
Connecticut would equalize in the top half of the second when Eddy Martinez-Esteve blasted a solo bomb to left.
Ambiorix Concepcion and Manriquez would come around to score on a base hit and a rare error by Ryan Rohlinger in the second as the Mets claimed a 3-1 advantage.
In the fourth the Defs would begin to chip away. Sosa singled Ben Copeland home after he delivered a leadoff double to make it 3-2 Binghamton.
After a quiet fifth, Adam Witter made some noise in the sixth. Still down a run and with two men aboard, Witter smashed a three-run homer over the right field fence to flip the lead to Connecticut's favor, 5-3.
Joey Martinez would pick up his seventh win, Tim Lavigne would drop his second game and Justin Hedrick secured save number six.
The Mets and Defenders will square off tomorrow evening at 7:05pm from NYSEG Stadium. Listen to all the action at ctdefenders.com or locally on the Defenders' Radio Network.
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