NYPL State College Spikes

Spikes Game Notes

Published on July 18, 2007 under New York-Penn League (NYPL)
State College Spikes News Release


STATE COLLEGE SPIKES (13-14) @ HUDSON VALLEY RENEGADES (13-14)

Game # 27 Road Game # 13

Dutchess Stadium, Wappings Falls, NY

July 18, 2007 7:05 p.m.

LHP Tony Watson (4-0, 1.63) vs. RHP Diego Echeverria (0-4, 9.61)

THE STARTERS:

TONY WATSON will make his sixth start of the 2007 season. The Pirates' 9th round draft pick in 2007 from the University of Nebraska is 4-0 with a 1.63 ERA. Watson has won his last four decisions and the Spikes have been victorious in every game Watson has appeared in this year. In his professional debut against Williamsport, Watson pitched 5.0 no-hit innings and typing a Spikes franchise record with nine strikeouts.

Last time out against Oneonta on July 13, Watson struck out four, while walking only one in 5.0 innings against the Tigers.

Watson is holding opposing hitters to a .188 average this year and lefties are having an especially difficult time figuring out Watson, as southpaw hitters are just 3-for-24 (.125) against him.

DIEGO ECHEVERRIA will make his sixth start of the year for the Hudson Valley Renegades. Echeverria, a native of Dolores, Argentina has stumbled early on for manager Matt Quartraro. The 21-year old has struggled with his control, walking 17 batters and striking just six in only 22.0 innings of work this year. Echeverria will be making only his second start of the season at Dutchess Stadium, as five of his six starts (along with all four of his losses) this year have come on the road.

LAST NIGHT'S GAME

The State College Spikes lost their fourth in a row, dropping their record to 13-14 as they fell to the Hudson Valley Renegades at Dutchess Stadium 5-1 Tuesday night.

With the loss, the Spikes have now lost six of their last seven games, and have fallen below .500 for the first time since June 27. The early portion of the game looked promising for State College as they jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first. After a two-out walk to Justin Byler, and a passed ball moved him to second base, Daniel Rios drove him in with an RBI single giving the Spikes the early edge.

That was all State College would get, as the Renegades got to starting pitcher Moises Robles (1-5) in the bottom of the second. Back-to-back doubles off the bats of Steve Vogt and Mike McCormick in the bottom of the second, tied the game 1-1. Hudson Valley tacked on another run in the bottom of the third after a Miako Loyola ground out scored Cody Cipriano, who lead off the inning with a triple, pushing the Renegades lead to 2-1, a lead which they would no relinquish.

TONIGHTS GAME

Spikes will try to avoid losing a season-high five straight. The franchise record for most consecutive losses is five, which occurred last year. This is the second time this year the Spikes have dropped four straight. State College lost four in a row from July 8-12 against Vermont and Oneonta.

MOSKOS SIGNS AND IS HAPPY VALLEY BOUND

The Pittsburgh Pirates announced yesterday that they have signed their first-round draft pick, (No. 4 overall) Daniel Moskos. Moskos, a junior out of Clemson University was in Pittsburgh yesterday and was formally introduced by General Manager Dave Littlefield. After touring PNC Park he had lunch with last year's National League Batting Champion, Freddy Sanchez.

Moskos, 21 is expected to join the Spikes after first going through a throwing and conditioning program at the Pirates' training complex in Bradenton, FL. From Bradenton, Moskos will join State College where he is expected to work out of the bullpen.

SINCE "THE STREAK"

Since the Spikes rolled off a franchise best nine straight wins, State College has only been able to muster two wins in their last 11 games after having the streak snapped on July 3. Those wins came against Williamsport (July 6, 4-2) and against Oneonta (July 13, 3-2).

OFFENSIVE OUTAGE

After leading the New York Penn League for a week in early July, State College has had a severe power outage, as they have fallen to sixth in the NYPL in team batting average (.263). The Spikes are also last in the league in runs scored (97). State College has not scored more than three runs since scoring four times in their July 6 victor against Williamsport. The Spikes have also not homered since Michael Ambrose went deep versus Williamsport on July 4.

Over their last 10 games, the Spikes have hit just .228 as a team (69-for-303) and have scored just 19 runs. Over their last five games, the Spikes are hitting just .209 (33-for 158) with eight runs scored.

BANGED UP

The Pirates' fifth round draft pick from TCU, catcher Andrew Walker is still on the shelf with a bruised right thumb, which he jammed diving back into a base on July 11 versus Oneonta. Walker is expected to return to the Spikes lineup in the next few games. Walker has caught bullpen sessions and warmed up pitchers in between innings over the last few games. In his absence, Nick Stillwagon has started the last six games behind the plate.

NOT LOSING ANY GROUND

Even though the Spikes have lost nine of their last 11 games, they have not lost as much ground in the Pinckney Division as one may think. State College is just 2.5 games behind the first place Auburn Doubledays (16-11). While the Spikes have had a rough stretch, so have other Pinckney Division foes. The Jamestown Jammers (6-4) are the only team that has a record above .500 over their last 10 games.

The Spikes are just 1-8 against teams from the Stedlar and McNamara Divions so far this year, as opposed to a record of 12-6 against teams within the Pinckney Division.

Check out the State College Spikes Statistics

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