Beetles Rally with Big Eighth
July 15, 2012 - Northwoods League (Northwoods)
Alexandria Beetles News Release
Rochester, MN - Shutout by Rochester starter Kevin Johnson and down to their final five outs, the Alexandria Beetles (19-27, 6-5) rallied for six runs in the top of the eighth to knock off the Honkers (19-27, 4-7) by a 6-4 final in the first game of a two-game set at Mayo Field on Sunday.
The win was the first for the Beetles in six attempts against the Honkers this year. Alexandria starter Brandon Johnson allowed four unearned runs, all in the fifth, with Mitchell Babb earning the win in relief. The Beetles pitching staff has allowed just one earned run in the last two games, both wins.
The Johnsons posted dueling zeros through the first four innings before Rochester broke through in the fifth aided by a pair of Beetle errors. The Honkers knocked three hits, including a two-run double by Dakota Smith, and a pair of sacrifice flies gave the homestanders a 4-0 lead.
Alexandria, which sent only nine men to the plate in the fifth, sixth, and seventh, finally came to life in the top of the eighth. After a leadoff strikeout, Dylan Raper, Matt Lowenstein, Tanner Vavra, Ben Moore and Jimmy Pickens all singled to score two runs and force the Rochester starter from the game.
In came reliever Tyler Lohr for his first appearance of the summer and on the first pitch he threw, he hit Will Fulmer in the back to score another run. His second pitch, to Stephen McGee was thrown to the backstop to bring home Moore as the game-tying run.
Still, the Beetles were not done. McGee walked to re-load the bases, and after a popup to shallow right, Pickens broke for the plate on a straight steal of home, coming in to score the go-ahead run as reliever Elliot Engle's curve went to the backstop. Josh Carpenter, the tenth man to bat in the inning singled in the sixth run of the game as Alexandria took a two-run lead to the bottom of the inning.
With the back end of the bullpen fresh, Alex Guilford and Anthony Bazzani came on to record the final six outs and secure the victory.
The Beetles look for their first three-game winning streak of the year with a 1:05 CDT start time against the Honkers on Monday.
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Northwoods League Stories from July 15, 2012
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