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FSL1 Charlotte Stone Crabs

Marauders Cruise to 8-2 Win

May 8, 2014 - Florida State League (FSL1)
Charlotte Stone Crabs News Release


PORT CHARLOTTE, FL (May 8, 2014) - There's no telling if the Marauders four run comeback in the ninth inning on Wednesday had any lingering effects when the teams reconvened at Charlotte Sports Park. Although the home team held an overwhelming advantage in the season series, Bradenton took control against Reinaldo Lopez and buried the Stone Crabs in a 5-0 hole they would not climb out of. In a rather one-sided effort, the Marauders improved to 6-4 in the first 10 meetings after an 8-2 victory in front of 1,274 on Thursday night.

Max Moroff's single and Jin-De Jhang's double put runners at second and third in that fateful second inning after neither side could get a run in the first. Taylor Lewis brought in the first run with a grounder to third that was mishandled by Tyler Goeddel for an error before D.J. Crumlich's sacrifice bunt was handled for the first out. Lopez then walked the ninth hitter Jeff Roy before losing Adam Frazier on four pitches with the bases loaded. Jonathan Schwind's sacrifice fly to center gave the Marauders a 3-0 lead, and Josh Bell followed his first inning double with another in the second to bring home two more runs.

With a crooked number on the scoreboard that early, the Stone Crabs needed a resounding response against John Kuchno. A leadoff single by Patrick Leonard in the second gave way to Kes Carter's grounder to second that was dropped by the shortstop Frazier in an attempt to turn two. Kuchno got another groundball off the bat of Justin O'Conner for a 6-4-3 double play before walking Josh Sale on four straight to place runners at the corners. A wild pitch scored Leonard to make it 6-1, but that was all they could manage.

Lopez looked much smoother after retiring the Marauders in order across the third and fourth. But a leadoff infield single by Schwind in the fifth and a pair of one out singles by Eric Wood and Moroff loaded the bases for the second time. Lopez left the game after just 4 1/3 innings, and Jhang's sacrifice fly off Bruedlin Suero added a run to make it 7-1. The lefthander then got Taylor Lewis to line out to third to retire the side.

The Stone Crabs chased Kuchno at the exact same point in the bottom of the fifth after a leadoff infield single by Marty Gantt. Andrew Toles' single brought up Goeddel, whose high chopper to third was thrown to second for the force out. Tommy Coyle also grounded into a force out at second against southpaw Thomas Harlan, but it scored Gantt to make it a five-run deficit once again. Leonard's second single put a few runners on for Kes Carter, but he flew out to center to send the game to the sixth. Bell brought in the final two runs with a single in the sixth to give him four runs batted in, and Harlan and Bryton Trepganier combined to deal 4.2 innings of scoreless relief to finish off the 8-2 victory.

NOTES: The win marks the Marauders first victory by more than two runs since they defeated the Hammerheads 4-0 on April 19Lopez is now 1-2 in three starts against the Marauders, with his two shortest outings all season coming against them at Charlotte Sportsthe Stone Crabs have been held scoreless by Marauders relievers over 8 1/3 innings in the first two games of the seriesLeonard had his second straight two-hit game, giving him 11 to add to his team leadGantt also finished 2-for-4Hector Guevara's four-game hitting streak endedJosh Sale went 0-for-1 with three walks and had a season-best six-game hitting streak endHarlan (1-1) struck out Leonard and Carter with the bases loaded to end the sevenththe Stone Crabs are now 5-for-31 (.161) with the bases full this season.

The third game of the series will be played at Charlotte Sports Park on Friday night at 6:30 PM. Jeff Ames (0-3, 6.19 ERA) will look to get one back against the Marauders Jason Creasy (2-1, 2.59 ERA). In honor of Mother's Day on Sunday, we'll be celebrating Stoney's birthday at the ballpark! It's also the third Reading Club Night of the year. Since it's also Friday Happy Hour, enjoy 2 for 1 specials on 16 oz. fountain sodas, 16 oz. drafts and other alcoholic beverages from 5:30 pm until the end of the 3rd inning! There are still great seats available, so visit www.stonecrabsbaseball.com or call 941-206-HITS (4487) to order your tickets now!

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