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FL Lake Erie Crushers

Crushers Avoid Sweep In 12-Inning Victory

August 26, 2012 - Frontier League (FL)
Lake Erie Crushers News Release


AVON, Ohio - Adrian Ortiz's sacrifice fly scored Jason Taylor in the bottom of the 12th inning of Sunday's contest at All Pro Freight Stadium, as the Crushers avoided a sweep in a 4-3 victory over the Traverse City Beach Bums.

The victory for the Crushers (51-39) in their home finale, gives them a record of 27-24 at home, after starting the season 1-11 at All Pro Freight Stadium. The loss for the Beach Bums (60-30) snapped their seven game winning streak.

The victory keeps the Crushers well within striking distance of the Schaumburg Boomers, who lead the Crushers by a half game in the race for the Frontier League's final playoff spot.

The Beach Bums scored in the top of the first inning for the third night in a row. They scored all three of their runs on solo homers. Ryan Still began the game with his fourth bomb of the season.

The Crushers answered with two in the home half of the first. Daniel Bowman and Taylor stroked back-to-back one out singles, before Andrew Davis belted a base hit to score Bowman. Robby Kuzdale brought in the final run of the inning on a sacrifice fly to score Taylor.

Lake Erie took a 3-1 advantage in the bottom of the third, but had a chance to do more. They had the bases loaded with nobody out, when Russ Moldenhauer bounced into a 6-4-3 double play, scoring Bowman in the process.

Traverse City used two more solo homeruns to tie the game. Marcus Nidiffer hit a solo homerun in the fourth inning, and Jose Vargas hit his 29th, tops in the league, to tie the game in the fifth inning.

Lake Erie had the bases loaded with one out in the 10th inning, but couldn't push any across, and left the winning run stranded at second in the 11th, before scoring the game winner in the 12th.

The Beach Bums as well squandered a big opportunity, as they had runners on second and third in the 11th, and couldn't score. Kyle Colligan started the inning with a single and Sean Gusrang followed with a double, but Mickey Jannis retired the next three batters to keep the game tied at 3-3.

Taylor led off the 12th inning with a double, before Davis was intentionally walked. Moldenhauer then flew out to left center, and Taylor advanced to third on the play. Kuzdale was hit by a pitch to load the bases, and Ortiz followed with the game winning sacrifice fly to score Taylor.

Matt Smith (1-0) tossed a scoreless 12th inning to score the victory, while Matt Miller (6-4) allowed the game winning run and took the loss. The combination of Trevor Longfellow, Jonathan Kountis, Jannis and Smith tossed 7.2 innings of scoreless relief.

The top four batters in the Lake Erie lineup hit safely multiple times. J.C. Figueroa, Bowman, Taylor, and Davis all delivered two hits. Moldenhauer went 1-for-4, capping an incredible home stand, going 10-for-20 (.500) with five runs and three RBIs.

The Crushers are off on Monday, and will begin a three-game series with the Windy City Thunderbolts at Standard Bank Stadium on Tuesday night. Right hander Matt Smith (0-0, 1.50) will start for the Crushers, and the Thunderbolts will counter with right hander Tyson Corley (4-8, 2.80). The first pitch is scheduled for 8:05 PM.

The Lake Erie Crushers, the 2009 Frontier League Champions, and 2011 Frontier League Organization of the year, play ball at All Pro Freight Stadium, a 5,000 capacity stadium located in Avon, Ohio. The Frontier League is an independent baseball league with 14 teams operating throughout the Midwest. Season tickets for the 2012 season are on sale now! For more information on tickets, promotions and team news, visit the team website at www.LakeErieCrushers.com or call 440-934-3636.

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Frontier League Stories from August 26, 2012


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