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FL Lake Erie Crushers

Ninth inning rally falls short in 5-3 loss

September 1, 2015 - Frontier League (FL)
Lake Erie Crushers News Release


AVON, Ohio -- The Lake Erie Crushers left the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning, and saw their comeback effort cut short on Tuesday night at All Pro Freight Stadium, in a 5-3 loss to the Joliet Slammers.

The loss for the Crushers (37-53) was their ninth in their last 11 games, while the victory for the Slammers (39-52) was their sixth in seven games against the Crushers this season.

Joliet scored three times in the first inning to take an early lead, but the Crushers stayed well within striking distance. In the ninth, they had the bases loaded with one out, when Joliet closer Navery Moore (17) struck out the next two batters to seal the deal.

Joliet went to work early, using a pair of homers to take an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Carter Bell began the game with a solo homer to left, and later in the inning with two outs, Marc Flores belted a two-run homer to right to cap the big inning.

The Crushers answered with a run in the bottom of the first inning. Mark Fowler ripped a one out single to left, before advancing to second on a wild pitch. Anderson Hidalgo drove Fowler home on a two out RBI single to left.

The Slammers scored two more times in the top of the third to take a 5-1 advantage. The first three batters of the inning reached safely, and Jeremy Nowak drove in the first run on a RBI single to left. They had runners at the corners with one out, when Jack Cleary's sacrifice fly scored Mike Garza.

Lake Erie chipped away at the lead, getting single runs in the fourth and fifth. Trevor Stevens hit his first homer of the season in the bottom of the fourth, a solo shot to right, and the Crushers narrowed the deficit to two (5-3) in the bottom of the fifth as Cody Stevens scored on Fowler's RBI groundout.

Trevor Stevens was hit by a pitch to start the bottom of the ninth, and advanced to second on a single from Emmanuel Quiles. Brendan Costantino's sacrifice bunt pushed them both over, before Moore walked Daniel Aldrich to load the bases. Moore then struck out Chandler Brock and Fowler to end the game.

Andrew Strenge (8-7) allowed three runs on eight hits over six innings and struck out three batters to score the victory, while Moore worked a scoreless, yet adventurous ninth inning to get the save. Brad Zambron (3-7) allowed five runs on six hits over four innings and fanned one batter in the loss.

Three Crushers hit safely multiple times. The Stevens brothers both turned in two-hit performances, going 2-for-3, while Hidalgo went 2-for-4.

The Crushers will continue their three game series with the Joliet Slammers at All Pro Freight Stadium on Wednesday night. Right-hander Daniel DeSimone (2-2, 2.46) will start for the Crushers and the Slammers will counter with right-hander Kevin Walter (2-8, 5.70). The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM.

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Frontier League Stories from September 1, 2015


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