MWL1 Quad Cities River Bandits

Big first inning not enough for Bandits

Published on April 23, 2009 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Quad Cities River Bandits News Release


The Quad Cities River Bandits were sitting pretty after a four-run top of the first inning on Thursday night, but Beloit Snappers' starter Bobby Lanigan settled down and took over the ballgame to lead the home team to a 7-4 win at Pohlman Field.

Quad Cities (6-6) struggled after taking an early lead, mustering just two hits after the first inning as the Snappers rallied for the last seven runs of the night. Beloit (4-8) got a dominating performance from Lanigan, who struck out 10 and allowed just one hit after the first inning to earn the win.

Early on, Lanigan looked like he was in for a long night as the River Bandits jumped all over him in the opening frame. Newcomer Brett Lilley started the game with a leadoff double in his first at-bat for Quad Cities and advanced to third on a groundout. With the infield drawn in Chris Swauger started the scoring with a groundball single up the middle, and one pitch later Osvaldo Morales clubbed a two-run homer to left. The very next pitch was a double off the bat of Charlie Cutler, and eventually a two-out single by Jon Edwards brought Cutler home for a 4-0 lead.

But despite allowing five hits in the opening frame, Lanigan (1-0) allowed just one hit and one walk - both of which were earned by Lilley - the rest of the way. The 21-year-old right-hander twirled 6.2 innings and struck out 10, although his final line still featured four runs on six hits and one walk.

Meanwhile, the Snappers offense went to work. Dominic De La Osa and Adan Severino opened the bottom of the first with back-to-back singles and crossed the plate courtesy of Evan Bigley's RBI-groundout and a two-out, run-scoring single by Angel Morales. One inning later, Nate Hanson led off the second with a double and came around to score on a base hit by De La Osa to pull within 4-3.

Quad Cities starter Scott McGregor settled in from there and retired the last nine batters he faced, but Beloit resumed their rally against piggyback starter Miguel Tapia in the bottom of the fifth. Severino led off the frame with a single and Ramon Santana drew a walk, while Bigley drove in a run with a double to pull the Snappers to within one. With men and second and third and nobody out Eli Tintor's groundout evened the score, and later in the frame a double by Michael Harrington gave Beloit a 6-4 edge.

The Snappers' rally was made possible by Lanigan's dominating performance, but the right-hander was removed with two outs in the eighth inning after registering his 10th strikeout of the night on his 94th pitch. Quad Cities responded by loading the bases against reliever Steve Blevins, but the right-hander was able to escape trouble by striking out Morales to leave the bags packed.

Down 7-4, Quad Cities threatened again in the ninth by putting two men on base to bring the game-tying run to the plate - but reliever Joe Testa struck out Swauger before inducing a game-ending pop-out from Morales.

Tapia (0-1) suffered the loss out of the bullpen, yielding three runs on three hits over three innings of work.

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Midwest League Stories from April 23, 2009


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