MWL1 Burlington Bees

Bees End 12-Week Journey to .500

Published on August 4, 2012 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Burlington Bees News Release


BURLINGTON, Iowa - After 85 days the Burlington Bees (55-55, 23-18) returned to .500 with their overall record after defeating the Quad Cities River Bandits (54-56, 19-22) 7-to-4 on Saturday. The Bees had lost their last nine attempts to return to .500 and hadn't enjoyed a .500 overall record since May 11 when they were 17-17.

In fact, the Bees had lost on 14 different occasions in which the club entered a contest one game under .500. They also enjoyed six wins in that situation, but all of those wins came in the last week of April and first two weeks of May.

The River Bandits didn't make it easy for the Bees, as they too were trying to return their overall record to .500 with a win in game one. To matters worse, the Bees came into the game having lost the opening contest of the three previous series they had played with Quad Cities.

But unlike the team that struggled in the first half, the second half Bees had answers in game one. The club fell behind 3-to-0, but even- tually used two big innings to take down the River Bandits on Iowa National Guard Night at the Hive.

The first crooked number the Bees put on the scoreboard came in the bottom of the third. The Bees used three walks, two errors by the Bandits' third baseman, and one double by Max Muncy to take a 4-to-3 lead after three innings.

Unfortunately starter Tanner Peters allowed a home run to Anthony Garcia on the first pitch of the top of the fourth inning. The game was tied 4-to-4 and the Bandits threatened again with two outs and a runner at first later in the inning. With two outs and Nick Martini at first, Casey Rasmus hit a line drive deep into right-center field. Aaron Shipman raced to the ball and threw it to Chih-Fang Pan, who quickly relayed the ball to home plate to stop Martini from scoring. The game remained tied 4-to-4 until the bottom of the eighth.

After the Bees couldn't muster a threat against Jonathan Cornelius through 4.1 innings, the River Bandits brought in Kyle Barraclough who quick surrendered an opposite field single to Max Muncy. Rashun Dixon followed with an infield single and the Bees had a rally brewing. With no outs and runners at first and second, Wade Kirkland poked an RBI single into right field that scored Muncy and gave the Bees a 5-to-4 lead.

The bottom of the eighth turned into the second big inning for the Bees due to a big mistake by Barraclough. With one out and two run- ners in scoring position, Barraclough threw a wild pitch on the first toss of an intentional walk to Pan, which allowed Dixon to score and Kirkland to move to third base. Pan put down a bunt on the next pitch that drove in Kirkland as part of a squeeze play.

Jonathan Joseph earned his 12th save in 12 save opportunities by pitching a scoreless top of the ninth, and Seth Frankoff (4-7) earned his fourth win after pitching three perfect innings out of the bullpen. The relievers have pitched 26 consecutive innings without allowing a run.

Chris Lamb (0-1) tries to help the Bees get over .500 with a win in game two, which is scheduled for 2 p.m. CT on Sunday. For more information on Bees baseball call (319) 754-5705 or visit www.gobees.com.

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Midwest League Stories from August 4, 2012


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