Skeeters Sticks Stymied in 3-0 Setback
July 24, 2015 - Atlantic League (AtL)
Sugar Land Space Cowboys News Release
SUGAR LAND, Texas - The Sugar Land Skeeters dropped their second-straight game to the Lancaster Barnstormers, suffering a 3-0 setback on Friday in front of 6,300 fans at Constellation Field. The loss drops Sugar Land to 7-8 in the second-half and 43-42 overall.
Shunsuke Watanabe baffled the Skeeters batters through 6.2 innings of work. The submariner scattered four hits and a pair of walks while striking out five and keeping Sugar Land off the scoreboard. The Barnstormers bullpen of Bryan Morgado, Scott Patterson and Pete Andrelczyk kept the Skeeters at bay, throwing 2.1 shutout frames.
A night after recording his 1500th-career hit, Delwyn Young extended his hitting-streak to a team season-high 14 games with an infield single in the fifth.
Lancaster took an early lead on Skeeters' starter, Roy Merritt. Lance Zawadzki hit an opposite field solo-shot to stake the Barnstormers to a 1-0 lead in the top of the second.
The Barnstormers would capitalize on a pair of errors by Sugar Land to score two runs and take a 3-0 lead. Kent Matthes singled into left to start the inning. Mike McDade followed with a single into left, but Russo overran the ball on the ground, allowing both runners to move up to second and third. Brian Cavazos-Galvez notched the third-straight single into left, scoring one before Zawadzki hit a slow roller to short. Amadeo Zazueta was unable to handle the ball, bringing in the second run. Merritt escaped further trouble with a pickoff, strikeout and groundout to get out of the jam.
Despite the early struggles, Merritt would go on to record his seventh-straight quality start. The southpaw went 6.0 innings, scattering five hits for three runs, two earned, while walking none and striking out five in the loss.
The Sugar Land bullpen, consisting of Ramon Delgado, Andrew Johnston and Cory VanAllen, along with Merritt, combined to retire 17-of-the-final-18 Barnstormers of the game, but the offense could not mount a rally, falling 3-0.
The Skeeters continue the six-game series with Lancaster tomorrow evening. First pitch with the Barnstormers is slated for 6:05 p.m. with gates opening at 5. Season tickets and special game plans are still available for the 2015 campaign. Sign up today by calling the box office at 281-240-4487 to join the swarm.
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