Power Blank Grasshoppers
September 5, 2009 - South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release
Charleston, WV (September 5, 2009) - Hunter Strickland, Ryan Kelly and Rafael De Los Santos combined to toss a four hit shutout at Appalachian Power Park on Saturday night as the West Virginia Power took the second game of the series with a 4-0 victory over the Greensboro Grasshoppers.
Isaac Galloway began the contest with a double, and was the only Greensboro player to reach second base the entire night. Two out hits produced the first two runs for the Power. In his first at bat with the Power since July 18th, Erik Huber smoked a double down the right field line to begin the second inning. Huber scored a few moments later on a two out single from Austin McClune to snap a scoreless tie.
West Virginia had Kyle Morgan on second base when Danny Bomback busted out of a 2-for-35 slump with a two out double down the left line to give the Power a 2-0 lead. They scored a pair of runs in the fifth inning to pull away. Josue Peley started the inning with a walk and scored on Benji Gonzalez's double. Gonzalez scored the game's final run moments later on Morgan's sacrifice fly.
Hunter Strickland (4-2) was outstanding over six scoreless innings. He allowed just three hits, issued no free passes and struck out one batter in a winning effort. Ryan Kelly allowed just a hit over a pair of scoreless frames in relief and Rafael Del Los Santos tossed a perfect ninth inning to seal the deal. Brad Hand (7-13) allowed four runs on five hits over five innings and was tagged with the loss. The 4-0 victory was West Virginia's sixth shutout of the season.
West Virginia improved to 66-69 overall, and 39-26 in the second half after the victory, while Greensboro fell to 65-73 overall and 28-40 in the second half after the loss. Bobby Spain's went 0-for-3 and saw his 12 game hitting streak come to an end while Robbie Grossman went 1-for-3 and extended his hitting streak to five games. West Virginia's starting pitchers have allowed just one run on nine hits through 17 innings over the last three games.
West Virginia will continue the four game series with the Greensboro Grasshoppers at Appalachian Power Park on Sunday night. The Power will start right hander Brian Leach (7-3, 2.85) and the Grasshoppers will counter with right hander Natividad Dilone (1-0, 0.00). The first pitch will be delivered at 5:05 PM.
South Atlantic League Stories from September 5, 2009
- Legends take second straight in Bowling Green, 3-1 - Lexington Legends
- Right-hander goes six strong in 3-1 loss to Lexington - Bowling Green Hot Rods
- Keithley's Walkoff Single Staves Off Disaster - Hagerstown Suns
- Pirela's Single Nets Victory Over Sand Gnats, 5-4 - Charleston RiverDogs
- Nine-run Seventh Stops BlueClaws - Jersey Shore BlueClaws
- Lavarnway, Kehrt Send Tourists Packing as Drive Win 9-1 - Greenville Drive
- Vaughn erupts in debut to help Kannapolis to 10-3 victory - Kannapolis Cannon Ballers
- Power Blank Grasshoppers - Charleston Dirty Birds
- Intimidators race to win against Crawdads - Hickory Crawdads
- Surkamp's Complete Game Gives Jackets 2-1 Win - Augusta GreenJackets
- Power roster moves for September 5 - Charleston Dirty Birds
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