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Jacks Stymie Bombers 3-1, Earn First Ever Win in Tyler

June 7, 2015 - Texas Collegiate League (TCL)
East Texas PumpJacks News Release


John Caskey delivered seven shutout innings to lead the Pump Jacks past the Bombers for their first home win of the season.

For the first time in nearly 15 years, Tyler-area fans can celebrate a home win from their summer team.

The East Texas Pump Jacks got their first-ever victory in front of their home crowd at Irwin UT Tyler Ballpark Saturday night, defeating the Brazos Valley Bombers 3-1. Stellar pitching from John Caskey and a three-run sixth inning did the trick for the Pump Jacks, who snapped a four-game losing streak in the process.

Caskey dazzled in his first start of the summer, pitching seven scoreless innings and striking out four. Brazos Valley managed just five hits off of Caskey, and they struggled when it mattered most. The Bombers went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position.

For five innings, though, it was an old-fashioned pitcher's duel. Brazos Valley starter Mike Walker matched Caskey zero for zero through the first half of the game, taking a scoreless contest into the sixth frame.

The sixth inning is when the game changed. Jake Nash launched a one-out triple to left-center field to put a runner in scoring position. Alex Bell worked out of an 0-2 count to earn a nine-pitch walk that ended the night for Walker.

Brazos Valley went to the bullpen for reliever C.J. Gregory, but the Pump Jacks attack continued. Tyler Moore greeted Gregory with a single that scored Nash for the first run of the game. Gregory uncorked a wild pitch that moved both runners into scoring position. Tristan Clarke grounded out to second, allowing pinch-runner James Lear to scamper home. Anthony Donovan followed with his first RBI of the season, a single to center that scored Moore and gave the Jacks a 3-0 lead.

The Bombers tried to answer in the next frame, but Caskey shut the door yet again. Brazos Valley strung together a double and a single with two outs, putting runners at the corners and prompting Jacks' head coach Ernie May to visit the mound. With arms up in the bullpen, May elected to leave Caskey on the hill with a three-run lead, and the Wofford sophomore forced Tyler Bates into a lazy fly ball to end the threat.

Caskey's day was finished after seven innings, and returning Pump Jack Tanner Cable entered the ballgame to start the eighth. After retiring the first batter of the inning, Cable issued a walk followed by two straight singles, prompting coach May to call on his 6-foot-5 closer Tyler Adams.

Adams surrendered a single which plated the Bombers' lone run, and then a successful double steal moved both runners into scoring position. Relishing in the high-pressure situation, Adams struck out the next two Bombers to end the threat.

The Jacks' closer came back out for the top of the ninth and earned his first save of the season. Pitching for the second consecutive night, Adams finished with three strikeouts and one hit in 1.2 scoreless innings.

East Texas and Brazos Valley will go at it again Sunday evening for the second game of the series, which is also Grad Night! After a weekend full of local graduations, fans can celebrate at the ballpark by wearing their graduation cap to the game to receive $1 reserved seat tickets!

As always, you can tune into our live Ustream broadcast, or follow the game with live scoring updates on our Pointstreak feed.

Pump Jacks Nation: 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.

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Texas Collegiate League Stories from June 7, 2015


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