FSL1 Charlotte Stone Crabs

Stone Crabs Survive to Edge Marauders 6-5

Published on May 9, 2014 under Florida State League (FSL1)
Charlotte Stone Crabs News Release


PORT CHARLOTTE, FL (May 9, 2014) - Marcus Jensen found himself in a very familiar situation in the top of the ninth on Friday night against the Marauders. For it was Jensen who pitched the ninth inning on Opening Day in this ballpark, getting the Stone Crabs their first victory with the tying run on base. Only this time, Bradenton had the tying run at second just two nights after battling back from 5-2 down in the ninth to win 6-5. After a nearly catastrophic eighth that he escaped from, Jensen got Max Moroff to fly out to center for his team-leading fourth save in front of 2,959 at Charlotte Sports Park.

The game started eerily similar to Wednesday night's letdown, with the Stone Crabs seizing control of the early momentum and never looking back. Andrew Toles opened the first with a hard smash to second that Moroff fielded well, but his throw to first base was off line for an error. A double by Leonardo Reginatto put the first two batters at second and third, which allowed Tommy Coyle to score the game's first run with a groundout to first.

Marauders catcher Jacob Stallings picked the perfect time to hit his first home run when he tied the game with a solo shot off Jeff Ames with two outs in the second. With the wind still blowing out towards left field, Jason Creasy left a pitch up for Justin O'Conner in the bottom of the second. The Stone Crabs catcher came through with his first big blow of the night, and his solo shot carried over the wall in the corner to make it 2-1.

More help arrived in the third after a leadoff double by Toles, who stole third base quickly before Reginatto's RBI single made it 3-1. Creasy's problems persisted in the fourth once O'Conner stroked a one out double down the left field line. Maxx Tissenbaum's flyout to center brought up the bottom of the order with two outs. Josh Sale's RBI double into right scored O'Conner for a 4-1 lead before Jonathan Quionez followed with an RBI single into center for a four run lead.

Jensen started the eighth with a 5-2 lead after the Marauders got a run back off Leonel Santiago in the sixth. They greeted the Scottsdale, Arizona native with four straight singles, including the final one by Moroff to score a run and make it 5-3. Jonathan Schwind then directed a hard grounder to Coyle at second, which took a tough hop off him and into right field to score another run and make it 5-4. With the bases loaded and nobody out, Jensen delivered one of his finest moments as a Stone Crab and fanned Jeff Roy for the first out. The next two hitters, Jacob Stallings and Raul Fortunato, couldn't get a ball off the infield, and the 5-4 lead miraculously held.

In the home eighth, the Stone Crabs got their first run of the series against the challenging Marauders bullpen. Orlando Castro had already thrown three scoreless innings of relief for Creasy (2-2), but allowed a one out single to Coyle. With two outs, Kes Carter drew a crucial walk on a 3-2 pitch to bring up O'Conner once more. Castro jumped ahead of him 1-2, but O'Conner guided an RBI single into right center to add another run for a 6-4 lead.

Jensen's final disappearing act came in the ninth with the top of the order due up. A groundout by Frazier and a single by Crumlich brought up dangerous switch-hitter Josh Bell, who had driven in four of the Marauders eight runs on Thursday night. His fielder's choice grounder forced out Crumlich at second and continued the inning for Eric Wood. A passed ball got Bell to second, and Wood picked up his second straight hit against Jensen to drive in the run with a double into right. Moroff could not complete the comeback, and Jensen held on to get a game-ending flyball to center for a 6-5 win and their first in the series.

NOTES: Jensen has now earned a save in three straight appearancesAmes (1-3) went five innings for just the second time in five starts, and only allowed two baserunners in the fourth after the Stallings home run in the secondit was O'Conner's first multi-hit and multi-RBI game since April 30 in a 6-1 win in St. Luciehe now has 10 doubles, and his third three-hit game ties him with Tyler Goeddel for the team leadthe run allowed by Castro in the eighth was the first by a Marauders reliever in 10.2 IP in the seriesLeonel Santiago surrendered a leadoff triple to Wood in the sixth, but retired the last six hitters he saw on groundballsToles has scored 16 runs in his last 20 gamesReginatto finished 2-for-4 and now has two hits in seven of his last 10 games (.375)Quionez has an RBI in three straight games.

The fourth and final game of the series will be played at McKechnie Field on Saturday night at 6:30 PM. Alex Colome (0-1, 9.00 ERA) will make his second rehab start against the Marauders Tyler Glasnow (0-2, 3.00 ERA). You can follow all the action by listening to the game on www.stonecrabsbaseball.com via TuneIn Radio, or tuning into 91.7 FM-WVIJ in the Port Charlotte area. The Stone Crabs Pregame Show starts at 6:10 PM on the Stone Crabs Radio Network!

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