FL Lake Erie Crushers

Middendorf shines as Crushers avoid sweep

Published on June 6, 2013 under Frontier League (FL)
Lake Erie Crushers News Release


TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- The Lake Erie Crushers avoided a three-game sweep at the hands of the Traverse City Beach Bums on Thursday night, as Dave Middendorf struck out 10 over 8.2 innings of action, in a 5-2 Crushers victory.

For Lake Erie (7-11) the victory snapped both a four game losing streak, and five game slide on the road, while the loss for the Beach Bums (10-8) snapped a five game win streak at Wuerfel Park.

Middendorf (2-1) was phenomenal for Lake Erie. He came one out away from recording Lake Erie's first complete game shutout of the season. He allowed just a pair of runs on four hits while fanning 10 in 8.2 innings of work.

The Crushers took their first lead of the series early on, and never looked back. Kevin Berard's first of four hits on the night was a base hit to begin the contest. He stole second base and made his way to second on Russ Moldenhauer's groundout, before Andrew Davis's groundout scored him.

A pair of singles contributed to Lake Erie's second run of the game. Gauntlett Eldemire stroked a one out single in the top of the third, moved to third on Berard's second single of the night, and Moldenhauer scored Eldemire moments later on a sacrifice fly.

Lake Erie put the game away with a trio of runs in the top of the sixth inning. The rally began on back-to-back base hits from Anderson Hidalgo and Emmanuel Quiles. Seth Granger laid a sacrifice bunt down to put them both in scoring position, and Juan Sanchez brought them home on a single down the left field line. Berard drove in the final run of the inning on his third base hit of the night.

The Beach Bums did not pose any real threats to score, until the bottom of the ninth. Walks were issued to the first two batters of the inning, before Taylor Wrenn singled to load the bases for Chase Burch. Burch then grounded into a 1-2-3 double play, before Marcus Nidiffer singled in two runs to keep the game alive. The single knocked Middendorf out of the game, but Dale Dickerson (1) came on and retired the only batter he faced to end the contest.

Middendorf has now allowed just three runs over his last three starts, spanning 23.1 innings of action. Traverse City's Mike Devine (0-1) took the loss, after surrendering five runs on nine hits over 5.1 innings.

A trio of Crushers hit safely more than once, including Berard who led the way with a 4-for-4 performance, reaching in all five plate appearances. Hidalgo hit safely twice on the night, and ended up with five hits in the series, while Quiles went 2-for-3 and reached three times. Andrew Davis singled in the seventh inning to extend his hitting streak to eight games.

The Crushers will begin a three game series against the Washington Wild Things at Consol Energy Park on Friday evening. The Crushers will start right hander Matt Smith (1-0, 1.64) and the Wild Things will start right hander Shawn Blackwell (1-2, 5.29). First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM.

The Lake Erie Crushers, the 2009 Frontier League Champions, and 2011 Frontier League Organization of the year, play ball at All Pro Freight Stadium, a 5,000 capacity stadium located in Avon, Ohio. The Frontier League is an independent baseball league with 14 teams operating throughout the Midwest. Season tickets for the 2013 season are on sale now! For more information on tickets, promotions and team news, visit the team website at www.LakeErieCrushers.com or call 440-934-3636.

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Frontier League Stories from June 6, 2013


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