SAL1 Charleston Dirty Birds

'Power' pitching propels West Virginia to victory

Published on August 15, 2008 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Charleston Dirty Birds News Release


Greenville, SC (August 15, 2008) - While the offense has gotten most of the attention in the second half of the season, the pitching staff paved the way for the Power on Friday night at Fluor Field as Dan Merklinger and Roque Mercedes struck out 14 batters in West Virginia's 5-1 victory over the Greenville Drive.

Caleb Gindl began the second inning with a double and scored the first run of the game on Anderson De La Rosa's two-out single. The Drive tied the game in the bottom of the fourth inning. Carlos Fernandez began the inning with a base hit, then advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches and scored on Oscar Tejada's groundout.

The Power scored twice in the sixth inning to take the lead for good. Eric Farris began the inning with a base hit and moved to second base when Eric Fryer reached on Zach Penprase's error. Steffan Wilson then ripped an RBI single to score Farris. The play at the plate was extremely close, causing Greenville manager Kevin Boles to argue the call, and he was ejected shortly thereafter. Zelous Wheeler then grounded into a 6-4-3 double play with the bases loaded to score Fryer. West Virginia scored their final two runs in the ninth inning on De La Rosa's fourth homer of the season.

Dan Merklinger (7-8) allowed just a run on three hits and fanned eight over five innings of work in a winning effort. Roque Mercedes (3) tossed four scoreless innings of two hit ball and struck out six to get the save. Ryne Miller (1-3) allowed a pair of runs on four hits in three innings of relief and was tagged with the loss.

The Power improved to 68-55 on the year and 36-18 in the second half with the win. The Drive fell to 64-58 on the year and 24-29 in the second half with the loss. Fryer, Gindl and De La Rosa paced the Power with two hits a piece. Curt Rindal went 0-for-4, bringing his hitting streak to an end at 10 games and his on base streak to an end at 18 games.

The Power will continue the four game series against the Greenville Drive at Fluor Field on Saturday night. The Power will start right hander Evan Anundsen (10-6, 4.11) and the Drive will counter with left hander Felix Doubront (12-7, 3.75). The first pitch is scheduled for 7:00 PM.

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South Atlantic League Stories from August 15, 2008


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