Sports stats



Jacks Erupt for Three Runs in Ninth, But Comeback Falls Short

June 11, 2015 - Texas Collegiate League (TCL)
East Texas PumpJacks News Release


The Pump Jacks made a game of it in the ninth inning Wednesday, scoring three and bringing the potential winning run to the plate before falling 5-3 to the Generals.

Once again, the East Texas Pump Jacks refused to go down without a fight.

Late game heroics have become habit for the Pump Jacks, and Wednesday night's effort in Victoria against the Generals was no different. A 5-0 deficit entering the ninth inning quickly became 5-3 with the winning run at the plate, but next hit eluded the Jacks on their way to a 5-3 defeat.

The magic started brewing when Alex Bell and Chad McKinney led off the top of the ninth with consecutive singles. Anthony Donovan followed with his second walk of the day, and the table was set for late-game drama for the third time in as many games.

Dylan Mecham laced the first pitch he saw for a single, and with that the Jacks had their first two runs of the night. With plans to swipe second base and put himself into scoring position, Mecham was caught a little too far off of first base and Generals pitcher Lance Moszkowicz forced him into a rundown.

As Mecham danced in the basepath between first and second base, he bought time for Donovan to scoot home for the Jacks' third run.

Luck remained on the Pump Jacks' side as Moszkowicz got T.J. Friedl to swing at a breaking ball in the dirt, but the ball squirted away from the catcher, allowing Friedl to race safely to first. Joey Libby stepped to the plate as the Pump Jacks' tying run, and kept the rally alive with his second single of the day.

With only one down and the go-ahead run stepping to the plate, Victoria called on reliever Brett Burrington to stop the bleeding.

Burrington quickly worked Tristan Clarke into an 0-2 hole, but Friedl and Libby but the pressure back on Burrington as they executed a double steal that put the tying run in scoring position. Clarke just missed the next pitch for strike three, and Jake Nash came to bat as the Jacks' last hope.

He took a healthy cut at the first pitch, and sent it out of play for strike one. The second pitch was a fastball Nash could handle, but his bat got a little too far under the ball and he sent it into left field for the third out.

Starting Pitcher Eddie Dionne got off to a bit of a shaky start, allowing a run on a sac fly in the first, and two more tallies on a pair of hits in the second. Dionne, who entered the game without allowing a run in nine innings this season, regained his old form and shut the door through the fifth inning.

The Generals scored a tagged Dionne for a run in the sixth, and stole another one from reliever Jimmy Johnson in the seventh inning.

Dionne finished the game with four earned runs over 5.2 innings, raising his ERA to 2.45. Johnson tossed the final 2.1 innings, allowing an earned run with two strikeouts.

The Pump Jacks received two-hit games from Libby and Niko Buentello, and Anthony Donovan went 1-for-2 with two walks and a run scored.

The Jacks return home Thursday for a doubleheader against the Texas Marshals, with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 p.m. After a day off Friday, East Texas welcomes the Woodlands Strykers to Irwin UT Tyler Ballpark for a two-game set Saturday and Sunday.

As always, fans can tune in to our live Ustream broadcast, or follow the game with live scoring updates on our Pointstreak feed

To follow all the news during the Jacks' inaugural season in Tyler, visit the Pump Jacks official web site at www.pumpjacksbaseball.com. Join the conversation with other members of Pump Jacks Nation by visiting the Pump Jacks on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

• Discuss this story on the Texas Collegiate League message board...

Texas Collegiate League Stories from June 11, 2015


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central