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Eighth Inning Rally Gives Hawks Seventh Win in a Row

May 2, 2013 - Midwest League (MWL1)
South Bend Silver Hawks News Release


Designated hitter Ryan Court's double down the right field line sparked the game-winning rally in the bottom of the eighth as the South Bend Silver Hawks (18-6) extended their winning streak to seven games by defeating the Quad Cities River Bandits (15-10) 6-4 on Thursday night.

For the second night in a row, the River Bandits, Class A-Affiliate of the American League West Houston Astros, got on the board in the top of the first inning. South Bend starting pitcher Kyle Schepel took some time to locate the strike zone as he walked three in the inning and hit a batter. Quad Cities third baseman Ryan Dineen worked a walk to force home the first run of the game, scoring second baseman Joe Sclafani. Schepel settled down to strike out DH Jobduan Morales to escape the inning.

The Silver Hawks, an Affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks, responded immediately as they crossed the plate three times in the bottom of the first inning. Hawks second baseman Fidel Pena led off the inning with a walk. Right fielder Socrates Brito singled through the right side, sending Pena around to third base. Brito moved up to second base on third baseman Brandon Drury's groundout before Court delivered the big blow of the inning. Court ripped a double into the left field corner to plate both Pena and Brito, giving the Hawks the 2-1 lead. Court came around to score later in the inning when Quad Cities shortstop Brian Blasik threw away a routine groundball that would have ended the inning.

After a scoreless second inning, Quad Cities cut the lead to 3-2 in the top of the third. River Bandits first baseman Jesse Wierzbicki hit a 2-1 offering from Schepel into the Applebees Fun Zone in left field for his third homerun of the year. The Silver Hawks extended the lead back to two runs in the bottom of the fourth. Hawks left fielder Alex Glenn singled off of the first baseman's glove to lead off the inning. Glenn stole second base and then advanced to third on catcher Steven Rodriguez's single. Shortstop Pedro Ruiz drove Glenn home with a sacrifice fly.

JR Bradley came on in relief of Schepel to start the fifth inning and threw two scoreless innings for the Silver Hawks. The bullpen was unable to hold the lead as the River Bandits tied the game up at four in the top of the seventh. Four consecutive runners reached base against Hawks reliever Thomas Brendel, with Morales' single driving in the game tying run. Brendel worked out of further trouble by inducing an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play with runners at the corners.

South Bend rallied in the bottom of the eighth to take back the game. Drury led off with a single to left field, past the diving Quad Cities third baseman. Court followed with a high fly ball into the right field corner that was ruled fair and turned into a double that put runners at second and third with nobody out. Fraizer Hall extended the rally with a single to left-center which scored Drury. After a pitching change, Breland Almadova capped off the inning with an RBI groundout, scoring Court. Colton Cain (0-3) took the loss for the River Bandits as he was responsible for both runs in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Frank Santana (3-0) was credited with the win in relief for the Hawks and Enrique Burgos pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his second save of the season. Court was the hitting star for the Hawks, with two doubles, two runs scored, and two RBIs. Dineen had a perfect night at the plate for the River Bandits, going one for one with two RBIs and four walks.

The Hawks hope to celebrate an eight-game winning streak and three-game sweep of the Quad Cities with fireworks on Friday night at 7:35pm. Jordan Jankowski (0-0, 3.32 ERA) gets the start for the River Bandits while Brandon Sinnery (0-0, 0.90 ERA) takes the mound for the Hawks.



Midwest League Stories from May 2, 2013


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