NYPL State College Spikes

State College Spikes Game Notes - June 24 vs. Auburn

Published on June 24, 2015 under New York-Penn League (NYPL)
State College Spikes News Release


Wednesday, June 24 - 7:05 p.m.

Medlar Field at Lubrano Park - University Park, PA

AUBURN DOUBLEDAYS - Washington Nationals (4-1) at 

STATE COLLEGE SPIKES - St. Louis Cardinals (1-4)

Game #6 / Home Game #5

Starting Pitchers:

State College - LHP Ian McKinney (0-1, 3.86)

Auburn - LHP McKenzie Mills (0-0, 0.00)

TONIGHT (7:05 vs. Auburn): Half-Price Wednesday presented by BIG Froggy 101

WEDNESDAY, JULY 1 (7:05 vs. West Virginia): Half-Price Wednesday presented by BIG Froggy 101...Going Green Night...State College Borough Water Authority Water Conservation Awareness Night

THURSDAY, JULY 2 (7:05 vs. West Virginia): Bark in the Park presented by Metzger Animal Hospital & Happy 103...$1 Beer Thursday presented by 93.7 THE BUS...Live Music by StressBusters Entertainment

-SPIKES LOOK FOR FIRST SERIES WIN OF YEAR VS. DOUBLEDAYS:The State College Spikes continue to seek to become the first team since the Staten Island Yankees of 2005-06 to successfully defend its NYPL crown, but also look to notch their first series win of the year as they face the Auburn Doubledays in the rubber match of a three-game series. Auburn swept Batavia in three straight road games to begin the season. The Spikes are 47-45 all-time against Auburn, and are 24-23 against the Doubledays at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.

-LAST GAME: The Spikes jumped out in front by three runs after five innings, but the Auburn Doubledays' four-run sixth helped push them past State College, 9-5, on Tuesday night at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. The Spikes got early punch thanks to Mike Pritchard's three hits, Ronnierd Garcia's two-run double in the third inning, and Casey Grayson's RBI single in the fifth, producing a 4-1 advantage going into the sixth. State College starter Landon Beck produced a good outing, yielding just one unearned run on two hits while striking out four batters over five frames. Tyler Bray took the loss after being held responsible for all four Auburn runs in the sixth. Bray gave up three hits, a walk and a hit batsman over 2/3 of an inning while recording one strikeout.

-McKINNEY MAKES SECOND START OF SEASON: Left-hander Ian McKinney gets the ball tonight for State College in his first start since Opening Night on Friday. McKinney logged seven innings on the hill in a quality start, but took the loss. The southpaw yielded three runs on eight hits and a walk while striking out two. McKinney, the fifth-round draft choice of the Cardinals in 2013, made two starts for the Spikes last season, once during the season's opening week and another on July 29 before going down with an injury. In between, the lefty twice won Appalachian League Pitcher of the Week honors for Rookie-level Johnson City.

-MILLS GOES TO HILL FOR AUBURN: Left-hander McKenzie Mills will make the start for the Doubledays tonight. Mills makes his first appearance of the 2015 season after spending 2014 with the Rookie-level Gulf Coast League Cardinals, where he went 1-2 with a 5.87 ERA and a save in 10 appearances, five of them starts. The Marietta, GA native was the Nationals' 18th-round draft choice in 2014 out of Sprayberry High School. Mills allowed a .333 batting average last season, including a .409 mark to left-handed hitters.

-MAKING MOVES: The Spikes welcome two new players to State College as outfielder Craig Aikin and infielder Josh Swirchak joined the club today. Aikin, the Cardinals' 13th-round draft choice this year out of Oklahoma, spent Opening Day of the Appalachian League season with Rookie-level Johnson City yesterday, going 1-for-4 with a run batted in. Swirchak, who signed with the Cardinals as a non-drafted free agent out of Wilmington (DE) University shortly after the draft concluded, also came from Johnson City, and is still to make his home debut. They replace outfielders Jhohan Acevedo and Kenny Peoples-Walls, who were both promoted to Single-A Peoria today

-RIVERA BRINGS FAMOUS NAME TO STATE COLLEGE: Right-handed pitcher Mariano Rivera, Jr., the son of the legendary Yankees closer, made his professional debut last night after joining the Doubledays on Monday. Rivera, who entered to the strains of Metallica's "Enter Sandman," tossed two scoreless innings, striking out four and giving up just two hits. The Iona College product was drafted in the fourth round by the Nationals this year after being selected by the Yankees in the 29th round of the 2014 MLB Draft and not signing. Rivera set an Iona record with 113 strikeouts this past spring while going 5-7 with a 2.65 ERA over 85 innings.

-SPIKE MARKS: Friday's Opening Night crowd of 5,921 trailed only the 6,066 fans at the regular season home finale on August 30, 2014 for the largest crowd in franchise history...The Spikes go on a six-game road trip to Mahoning Valley and Staten Island after tonight's game

Check out the State College Spikes Statistics

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