AA American Association

American Association Recaps

July 1, 2006 - American Association (AA) News Release


Lincoln 7, St. Paul 0

@ Lincoln, NE. Time: 2:06 Attendance: 5,390

W: Jeff Blitstein (4-0) L: Mike Meyer (5-4) S: NONE

HR: NONE

Lincoln didn't take long to get their 30th win - in the first half, or in the ballgame. In a game that finished in a little more than two hours, the Saltdogs shutout second place St. Paul and extended their North Division lead to two games. Lincoln starting pitcher Jeff Blitstein tossed a complete game shutout, scattering nine hits and only walking one, while striking out four. With the win Blitstein is a perfect 4-0 on the year. Lincoln SS Paul Powell led the Saltdogs at the plate, going 3-for-4 with an RBI. DH Pichi Balet was 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI and two other Saltdogs recorded multi-hit games. St. Paul had three batters that recorded two hits in the losing effort, led by SS Steve Butler. He was 2-for-3. With the win, Lincoln clinched at least a tie for the first-half in the North Division.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

St. Joe 3, Pensacola 2

@ St. Joseph, MO. Time: 2:59 Attendance: 1,205

W: Jesen Merle (3-1) L: Todd Androsko (3-2) S: Jamie Tricoglou (5)

HR: SJ-Cody Nowlin (2)

Pensacola was unable to capitalize on losses by Fort Worth and Coastal Bend, falling to St. Joe by a run at St. Joseph, MO. A win would have moved Pensacola into a tie for first place in the South Division with Shreveport, who beat Coastal Bend, and is now tied with Fort Worth at 24-22. Blacksnakes starting pitcher Jesen Merle allowed one earned run on seven hits through five innings of work and struck out two to see his record improve to 3-1 on the year. Jamie Tricoglou came on to retired the Pelicans in the ninth, earning his fifth save. 1B Cody Nowlin led St. Joe at the plate, going 1-for-3 with his second home run of the season. CF Scooter Jordan was 2-for-3 in the leadoff spot, including an RBI, and two other Blacksnakes recorded two-hit games in the win.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Sioux City 11, Sioux Falls 7

@ Sioux Falls, SD. Time: 3:12 Attendance: 3,223

W: Nate Holguin (1-0) L: Dustin Kupper (0-1) S: NONE

HR: SC-Ryan Gripp (6); SF-Angelo Fermin (2), Chad Hermansen (8), Dennis Anderson (4)

Sioux City got plenty of offense to top Sioux Falls, pounding out 16 hits and scoring 11 runs. Explorers 1B Dan Meier and C Chris Grossman were each 4-for-5 with three runs batted in and 3B Ryan Gripp was 2-for-4, including his sixth home run, with three RBI. C Dennis Anderson was 3-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI for Sioux Falls and three different players hit home runs in the losing effort. The win improves Sioux City's record to .500, at 23-23, while Sioux Falls drops to 15-31.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Shreveport 7, Coastal Bend 3

@ Robstown, TX. Time: 2:37 Attendance: 909

W: Eric Wikstrom (6-2) L: B.J. Litchfield (1-1) S: NONE HR: CB-Bryon Smith (3), Andy Wilson (3)

Coastal Bend was unable to gain a spot atop the South Division standings and Shreveport instead did so with a 7-3 win. Eric Wikstrom allowed two runs, both earned, on six hits through 7.1 innings to pick up his sixth win of the year and improve Shreveport's to 24-22. The Sports got the scoring started with three runs in the fourth and never trailed in the game. They added two in the fifth and two more in the seventh to build a lead that Coastal Bend would never recover from. In the loss, the Aviators did get home runs from 1B Bryon Smith and 3B Andy Wilson, the third of the season for each.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

El Paso 14, Fort Worth 6

@ El Paso, TX. Time: 3:17 Attendance: 5,204

W: David McWatters (2-5) L: Kevin Hull (4-3) S: NONE

HR: NONE

El Paso snapped a nine-game losing streak, and beat the first place team in the South Division in the process, with an impressive 14-6 win over Fort Worth in El Paso, TX. The Diablos scored in every inning, with the exception of the fourth and eighth, and posted eight runs in the seventh to effectively put the game out of reach. Starter David McWatters allowed five runs, all earned, on 12 hits in six innings of work, but got plenty of run support to pick up his second win of the season. The loss for Fort Worth drops them into a tie with Shreveport, who beat Coastal Bend to improve to 24-22 on the year. El Paso 1B Jorge Alvarez was 5-for-5 with four runs scored and three RBIs in the win.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

STANDINGS

NORTH DIVISION W L GB SOUTH DIVISION W L GB

Lincoln 30 16 -- Fort Worth 24 22 --

St. Paul 28 18 2.0 Shreveport 24 22 --

St. Joe 25 21 5.0 Coastal Bend 23 23 1.0

Sioux City 23 23 7.0 Pensacola 23 23 1.0

Sioux Falls 15 31 15.0 El Paso 15 31 9.0

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Tomorrow's Schedule (All times are Central):

Shreveport (Ryan Snyder, 2-3) at Coastal Bend (Jose Lopez, 0-2) 6:05 PM

Pensacola (Jake Vose, 1-2) at St. Joe (Donovan Graves, 4-2) 7:05 PM

St. Paul (Justin Lord, 6-0) at Lincoln (Roger Lincoln, 3-3) 7:05 PM

Sioux City (Aaron Marsden, 1-1) at Sioux Falls (Doug Johnson, 2-5) 7:05 PM

Fort Worth (Joel Kirsten, 1-2) at El Paso (Justin Abbott, 0-5) 8:05 PM

Check out the American Association Statistics



American Association Stories from July 1, 2006


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.


Sports Statistics from the Stats Crew
OurSports Central