SAL1 Hagerstown Suns

Quick-Starting Suns Fade Late Again In 8-6 Loss

Published on May 24, 2009 under South Atlantic League (SAL1)
Hagerstown Suns News Release


HAGERSTOWN, MD - For the second night in a row, the Hagerstown Suns (20-20) jumped out to an early lead in the first inning only to watch their opponent burst back to seize control of the game, falling 8-6 to the Hickory Crawdads (22-21) at Municipal Stadium on Sunday night.

The loss overshadowed a phenomenal performance by the top of the Hagerstown lineup, as shortstop Jose Lozada and second baseman Steve Lombardozzi each collected four hits and scored all six of the Suns runs out of the top two spots in the batting order. The duo got Hagerstown going in the bottom of the first, leading off the inning with back-to-back hits and scoring the Suns' first two runs of the game as Hagerstown took a 2-0 lead into the second.

Hickory scored the next six runs, however, punctuated by a massive three-run blast by Crawdads catcher Doug Hogan in the top of the fourth that soared well over the wall in left. All six of the runs were surrendered by Suns starter Brad Peacock (0-4), who saw his earned-run average jump to 4.50 on the season.

Lozada and Lombardozzi got Hagerstown going again in the bottom of the six, each scoring on a single by catcher Derek Norris to make the score 6-4 in favor of Hickory. After the Crawdads scored twice in the top of the seventh to go up 8-4, Lozada started off the bottom of the eighth with a single and came home on a double by Lombardozzi, who went on to score on a Norris RBI groundout. Norris had three RBIs on the day, raising his South Atlantic League-leading total to 35 through just 39 games.

With the Suns having pulled to within two runs, Hickory's Cody Eppley shut them down in the ninth, picking up a three-inning save to secure the win for fellow reliever Tyler Tufts (2-0). On the offensive side, the Crawdads had four batsmen with multi-hit games, led by Hogan's home run, triple, and four RBIs.

Hagerstown will look to salvage a split of the four-game series against Hickory on Monday afternoon, with a special 2:05 p.m. start time for Memorial Day at Municipal Stadium.

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South Atlantic League Stories from May 24, 2009


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