Mainers Defeat Swamp Bats 5-3
June 18, 2013 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Keene Swamp Bats News Release
On a chilly Tuesday night at Alumni Field, the Swamp Bats couldn't ride their momentum from a brief two game winning streak, falling to the Sanford Mainers 5-3.
Nathan Kirby got his first start of the season and twirled a gem. The lefty from the University of Virginia tossed seven innings, allowing three runs on just four hits while striking out nine Mainers and walking just two.
Keene scored first in this one, capitalizing on a Matt Ford sacrifice fly in the second inning. The Swamp Bats scored twice more, once on JP Sportman's R.B.I single in the fifth, and in the seventh on Eric Gutierrez's R.B.I knock.
The Mainers did their damage in the fourth inning from a Kirby wild pitch and then in the sixth off of a mammoth two run home run from Zander Weil.
Going in the ninth inning all knotted up at 3-3, Sanford took control, beating up on Kent State's John Birkbeck, who came in on relief of Kirby. With runners on the corners, Birkbeck threw a pitch in the dirt that slid past catcher Nate Irving to score the go-ahead. Dustin Cook, out of San Jacinto College, came on making his Swamp Bat debut but immediately gave up an R.B.I single, extending the Sanford lead to 5-3.
Nick Vita leadoff the bottom of the ninth inning with a double but the rally ended there, as Keene falls to 2-5 on the season.
Keene will next play on the road at Saratoga, where they will take on the Brigade at 6:30 p.m.
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New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from June 18, 2013
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- Mainers Defeat Swamp Bats 5-3 - Keene Swamp Bats
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