MWL1 Quad Cities River Bandits

Swing Even Series With One Run Win

Published on May 5, 2007 under Midwest League (MWL1)
Quad Cities River Bandits News Release


Brandon Buckman drove in two runs to take sole possession of the Midwest League RBI-lead and the Swing of the Quad Cities took advantage of six Cedar Rapids Kernels' errors in a 5-4 win on Saturday evening at Veterans Memorial Stadium. Starter Eddie Degerman fanned six in his Swing debut, including a stretch of five in a row as the Swing pitching staff combined for 12 strikeouts in the ballgame.

Quad Cities (16-13) evened the series with the victory, and Buckman's two-run double in the fifth enabled him to leapfrog teammate Mark Shorey for the league-lead in runs batted in with 26. Cedar Rapids (13-12) put the potential game-tying and go-ahead runs on base with one out in the bottom of the ninth, but Swing closer Kenny Maiques responded with consecutive strikeouts to lock down the save.

The Kernels started the scoring in the third inning, when P.J. Phillips doubled and Stantrel Smith reached on an error with nobody out. A sacrifice fly by Peter Bourjos brought the first run in, and later in the frame Smith raced home on a wild pitch for a 2-0 lead.

After Luke Gorsett drove in a run on a triple in the fourth, the Swing took the lead in the fifth. Jim Rapoport legged out an infield single with one away and Donovan Solano reached on an error. The runners were at second and third with two outs when Buckman delivered a bouncing ball double inside the first base line, scoring a pair to take a 3-2 lead.

Cedar Rapids tied the score at three with a run in the fifth but gave it right back in the seventh. Rapoport reached on an error to open the inning and moved to third with one out after a sacrifice bunt from Solano. But when Kernels catcher Hank Conger fired towards third after a pitch to Christian Lopez, the ball bounced away into foul territory and enabled Rapoport to race home for the go-ahead run. After reaching on one error and scoring on another, the speedy Swing leadoff hitter gave his squad a 4-3 edge.

After the two teams traded single runs in the eighth, the Swing took a 5-4 lead into the bottom of the ninth. Phillips and Smith each singled with one away, putting men at first and second against Maiques. The hard-throwing righty was up to the task, however, fanning both Bourjos and Chris Pettit swinging to notch his seventh save in as many opportunities while lowering his ERA to 0.90.

Degerman struck out six over five innings in his Swing debut, including five punchouts in a row between the third and fifth innings. The fourth-rounder out of Rice University allowed three runs - two earned - on four hits and one walk after being activated to the Quad Cities roster earlier in the day.

Shaun Garceau (2-0) took the win after three relief innings, allowing one run on five hits. The 19-year-old from Florida struck out four in a row between the sixth and seventh innings and did not issue a walk.

TICKETS: Tickets for all events at John O'Donnell Stadium can be purchased by calling the Swing of the Quad Cities ticket office at (563) 328-2000, coming to the box office located at the stadium along South Gaines Street, or by logging on to www.swingbaseball.com.

UP NEXT: The Swing are on the road through May 14 for a 10-game trip that includes stops in Cedar Rapids, Lansing, and Burlington. They will return to John O'Donnell Stadium for a 10-game homestand from May 14-24, beginning an extended home stretch in which 14 of their next 18 games will be played in Davenport. All Swing games feature a radio broadcast that can be heard on The Truth AM-1270 or online at www.swingbaseball.com, with the pre-game show starting 15 minutes prior to scheduled first pitch.

Check out the Quad Cities River Bandits Statistics

Share: Facebook | Twitter/X | LinkedIn | Reddit | Email



Midwest League Stories from May 5, 2007


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

OurSports Central