Bulls Walk off 2-1 to Sweep Stripers
July 3, 2018 - International League (IL1)
Durham Bulls News Release
DURHAM, NC - The Durham Bulls earned a 2-1, walk-off victory over the Gwinnett Stripers Tuesday night at the DBAP, as Jason Coats walked with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to give the Bulls their seventh straight victory.
In the home half of the eighth inning the Bulls mounted a comeback, as Andrew Velazquez worked a one-out walk, Nick Ciuffo followed with a walk, and Jeremy Hazelbaker loaded the bases with a free pass from reliever Rex Brothers.
A pitching change for the Stripers did not stop the Bulls from scoring, as Jacob Webb (L, 0-2) bounced a wild pitch to the backstop to score Velazquez on a head-first dive to tie the score 1-1 through eight innings.
In the bottom of the ninth, Ji-Man Choi reached on a throwing error by Webb. Following a walk to Justin Williams, Gwinnett brought in reliever Jason Hursh with runners at first and second. Velazquez earned a walk to load the bases and Nick Ciuffo lined out to right field putting two outs on the board for Coats.
Coats worked his way into a 3-1 count and watched a pitch sail low and away for ball four, scoring Choi and giving the Bulls a walk-off win for the second time this season.
Despite not earning a decision, Chih-Wei Hu delivered a quality start of his own, tossing 7.0 innings, allowing one run on three hits with five strikeouts and two walks. Over his last two starts, he has allowed just two runs over 15.0 innings, posting back-to-back quality starts.
Gwinnett starter Lucas Sims held the Bulls to two hits, while striking out a career-high 11 batters. At one point Sims set down 12 in a row, and faced the minimum over the first four innings. Sims recorded 11 strikeouts for the fourth time in his career.
Rob Refsnyder went 1-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to seven games, and Brandon Lowe went 1-for-4 as well, to move his hitting streak to eight games.
The Durham Bulls (49-34) head to the Charlotte Knights (38-45) for a two-game series at BB&T Ballpark on Wednesday night at 6:05 p.m. Ryan Weber (5-3, 2.23) is scheduled to start against Jordan Guerrero (1-0, 5.40) on Independence Day.
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