SAL1 Charleston Dirty Birds

Power Game Notes

Published on May 31, 2012 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release


West Virginia Power (18-35) at Hickory Crawdads (26-25)

Game 54 | May 31, 2012 | L.P. Frans Stadium | Hickory, NC

Radio: ESPN Radio 104.5 FM & 1490 and wvpower.com Air Time- 6:45 pm

TONIGHT'S MATCHUP

RH Ryan Hafner (0-3, 7.31) vs. RH Nick Martinez (1-1, 3.99)

Hafner: Allowed 3 R on 6 H with 1 K and 4 BB over 4.2 IP in 5/26 ND vs. KAN (5-3 Intimidators)

Martinez: Allowed 1 R on 3 H with 5 K and 2 BB over 4.0 IP in 5/26 ND vs. LEX (11-2 Crawdads)

POWER REPLAY: West Virginia beat Lakewood 10-5 on Wednesday to complete a three game series sweep. Alen Hanson led off the bottom of the first inning with a solo home run and the Power added six in the second to take a commanding leading. The clubs traded runs over the remainder of the game, but the BlueClaws never got within five the rest of the way. Matt Benedict earned his third win and the West Virginia's offense was keyed by multi-hit games by Hanson, Dan Gamache, and Chris Lashmet (two triples).

SWEEPS! West Virginia notched its' second seriessweep of the season by taking three straight from Lakewood Monday though Wednesday. The only other winning sweep this season was April 12 through 15 at Appalachian Power Park against the Greenville Drive; the very first home series of the year. West Virginia will now try to match its' longest winning streak of the season at four games (also April 12-15).

DOUBLE TRIPLES: Chris Lashmet became the first Power player with two triples in a single game this season. In fact, it had been over a year since the last Power player had two three-base hits in a game. Matt Curry tripled twice against Asheville on April 12, 2011 in a 6-3 Power win.

TEN SPOT: The Power offense had not scored more than nine runs in any game this season prior to Wednesday. West Virginia was 3-2 in games that they had plated nine prior to setting a new season high for scoring in the series finale against the BlueClaws.

GRAB THE STEAMPOT: West Virginia opens a four game series against Hickory tonight at L.P. Frans Stadium. The Power are 45-32 all-time against the Crawdads dating back to 2005 and have an 18-19 record on the road during the series.

DAILY UPDATE: Thanks to a win on Memorial Day, West Virginia is now 4-3 on Mondays this season, the only day of the week when the team has a winning record. Tuesday's victory was the first of the year on a Tuesday (1-6). The Power are now 3-4 on Wednesdays, 3-5 on Thursdays, 4-5 in Friday games, 1-7 on Saturdays, and 2-5 on Sundays this season.

SAME NAME, NEW ARM: The Pirates added Nathan Kilcrease to the West Virginia roster Tuesday to replace Porfirio Lopez. Pittsburgh signed the right-hander as a Minor League free agent on May 25. Kilcrease was drafted in the 30th round of the 2011 draft by the Oakland A's from the University of Alabama. Kilcrease was 3-4 with Vermont in the NYPL last season and had a 2.67 ERA over 20 appearances. He was 1-1 with the Burlington Bees in the Midwest League this season and had a 1.46 ERA over seven games before being released by Oakland on May 23. Nathan Kilcreaseis not related to Power southpaw Robbie Kilcrease.

PROMO UPDATE- JUNE 15: West Virginia will hold Pink Power Night on June 15 against the Hagerstown Suns. The team will don pink jerseys that will be auctioned off with proceeds benefiting the Komen for the Cure Foundation.

POWER POINTS: During the weekend series with Kannapolis, West Virginia drew a combined 12,837 fans to Appalachian Power Park. With an attendance of 3,641 during Friday night's game, the Power surpassed the 1.5 million fan mark dating back to 2005 when the stadium opened... Entering play tonight, Power pitchers have hit 16 more batters than anyone else in all of full season baseball.

AROUND THE ORGANIZATION: Pittsburgh edged Cincinnati 2-1 and took two of three from the first place Reds... Indianapolis lost 5-4 to Durham in 10 innings... Altoona lost 5-4 to Richmond... Bradenton dropped a 4-3 decision against Fort Myers.

ON THE AIR: All 140 West Virginia Power games can be heard on ESPN 104.5 FM and 1490 AM in Charleston, WV, across the state on the Power Radio Network, and online at milb.com. Adam Marco will call the action for each of the 70 home games this season, while the home team will provide coverage while the Power are on the road.

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South Atlantic League Stories from May 31, 2012


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