FL Lake Erie Crushers

Rough ninth leads to loss in series opener

Published on July 31, 2018 under Frontier League (FL)
Lake Erie Crushers News Release


AVON, Ohio - The Lake Erie Crushers, presented by Mercy Health, allowed six runs in the top of the ninth inning of Tuesday night's game at Sprenger Healthcare Stadium, and lost their series opener to the Gateway Grizzlies, 9-2.

The loss for the Crushers (36-31) was their third in a row, while the victory for the Grizzlies (29-40) snapped a three game slide.

Lake Erie took an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second, with the bottom of the order doing all the damage. Nick Roark got the rally started with a double to the gap in left center, and Bryan DeLaRosa followed with a walk. Joel McKeithan then belted a RBI single to left, scoring Roark to give the Crushers a 1-0 lead.

Gateway went to work in the top of the fourth inning. After Sean Renzi (7-5) tossed a trio of scoreless frames, the Grizzlies forced him to throw 32 pitches in the top of the fourth inning. He faced eight batters, but only allowed a pair of runs. Trae Santos started the inning with a solo homer to left, his 13th of the season. Two batters later, Artemis Kadkhodaian walked, and advanced to third on a wild pitch before scoring the go-ahead run on Paul Russo's RBI single to center.

The Grizzlies added a run in the top of the eighth inning when Kadkhodaian scored on another Russo single before they sent 11 batters to the plate and scored six runs on five hits in the top of the ninth to pull away. Santos drove in the first two runs on a bases loaded single to right. Russo and Cody Livesay both delivered run scoring singles and Brent Sakurai belted a two-run single as well.

The Crushers scored their final run in the bottom of the ninth. DeLaRosa started the inning with a double down the line in left and came around to score moments later on McKeithan's second RBI single of the night.

Mike Elwood (5-6) scored the victory for the Grizzlies after allowing just a run on six hits and struck out six over seven strong innings. Renzi took the loss after surrendering just two runs on six hits and fanned six batters but he also walked five over 5.1 innings of work.

Former Grizzlies McKeithan and Terry McClure led the Lake Erie offensive attack. McClure went 3-for-5 with a trio of singles, which was his second three hit performance in his last four games. McKeithan went 2-for-4 and drove in two runs.

The Crushers will continue their three game series with the Gateway Grizzlies at Sprenger Healthcare Stadium on Wednesday morning. The first pitch is scheduled for 11:05 AM.

The Lake Erie Crushers, the 2009 Frontier League Champions, and 2011 Frontier League Organization of the year, play ball at Sprenger Health Care Stadium, a 5,000 capacity stadium located in Avon, Ohio. The Frontier League is an independent baseball league with 12 teams operating throughout the Midwest. For more information on tickets, promotions and team news, visit the team website at www.LakeErieCrushers.com or call 440-934-3636.

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Frontier League Stories from July 31, 2018


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