NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, CFL stats



Jacks Fall 12-6 in Offensive Battle with Acadiana

June 25, 2015 - Texas Collegiate League (TCL)
East Texas PumpJacks News Release


After a gorgeous 1-0 pitcher's duel Tuesday night, the baseball gods decided to balance the scales Wednesday. The East Texas Pump Jacks dropped a 12-6 decision to the Acadiana Cane Cutters that was at times sloppy, in stark contrast the game the night before.

The Cane Cutters got out to an early lead in the second inning when they sent eight batters to the plate and came away with four quick runs off of starting pitcher Eddie Dionne. The leadoff batter reached on an error, and four more Cane Cutters reached base consecutively before Dionne could record his first out of the frame.

The inning came to a close on a heads-up play by first baseman Niko Buentello. On a fly ball to center for the second out of the inning, Acadiana runners on second and third tagged up, drawing a throw to the plate. Buentello cut off the throw and gunned out the runner at third, ending the inning.

Two more runs scored in the top of the third when Dionne fielded a bunt and delivered an errant throw to first, increasing the Acadiana lead to 6-0. That was the end of the night for Dionne, who saw Alex Lott come on in relief and retire the next three batters to conclude the inning.

East Texas went into the bottom of the fifth trailing 7-0, and put their first two runs on the board on back-to-back two-out singles from James Lear and Nick Roark.

Designated hitter Alex Bell got the rally started with a leadoff single, and moved over to second on Chad McKinney's grounder. Lear dug in with two outs and shot a single into center field that scored Bell, then grabbed second on the throw to the plate. Roark followed with a first-pitch single to left and Lear raced home from second to make the score 7-2.

The Cutters scored a scratch run in the sixth off of Mike Crimi, and they carried their 8-2 lead into the eighth inning. With Crimi still pitching, Acadiana's James Ziegler singled in Zak Kutsulis, who reached on an error to start the inning.

After Crimi walked Connor Short with two outs, May called on right-hander Joe Bernhard to get the final out of the inning. Luck wasn't on Bernhard's side, though. His 2-2 curveball to Kyle Knauth floated up in the zone, and Knauth turned on it and sent it out of Irwin UT Tyler Ballpark for a three-run homer.

Despite trailing 12-2 with six outs to work with, the Jacks never gave up.

Roark got things started in the bottom half of the eighth with a leadoff single, and Tristan Clarke and Jake Nash drew back-to-back walks to load the bases with one out. Dylan Mecham rifled a single into center field that scored Roarke. When center fielder Daniel Keating mishandled the base hit, both Clarke and Nash were able to race home and cut the deficit to 12-5.

Bernhard retired the side in order in the ninth to set the stage for a potential comeback.

With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Lear hit a sharp ground ball down the third-base line and scurried to second for a double, his third hit of the night. Roark followed with his third single of the ballgame, and with runners on the corners, Buentello walked to load the bases.

Earlier in the season, the Jacks went into the ninth inning trailing Acadiana by six runs, and manufactured a five-run rally that ended with the tying run being called out at the plate. All the ingredients for a miraculous comeback were in place, only this time it was a seven-run deficit that the Jacks would have to overcome.

Clarke stepped in with a chance to keep the inning alive, and his groundball to shortstop turned into a productive out as it allowed Lear to cross the plate. With two outs in the final frame, it was up to Nash to keep the rally alive. He got into a battle with Austin Millet, but went down on strikes to end the game.

The Pump Jacks head to Victoria Thursday and Friday before returning home for a weekend series against the Texas Marshals. Game time both Saturday and Sunday is 7:05, and gates will open at 6:00 p.m.

To follow all Pump Jacks games, home and away, fans can tune in to our live Ustream broadcast or follow the game with live scoring updates on our Pointstreak feed.

• Discuss this story on the Texas Collegiate League message board...

Texas Collegiate League Stories from June 25, 2015


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