Waves squeak past Swamp Bats, 2-1
June 26, 2015 - New England Collegiate Baseball League (NECBL)
Ocean State Waves News Release
Ocean State Waves Practice
(Ocean State Waves)
KEENE, N.H.-In the midst of a three game winning streak, the Ocean State Waves needed top-notch pitching when they faced the Keene Swamp Bats on Thursday. As the pitching staff allowed just five hits, the Waves rolled to their fourth straight victory with a 2-1 win over the Swamp Bats at Alumni Field.
Making his third start of the summer for the Waves was Blaise Whitman (Rhode Island). The righty shined against the Swamp Bats offense, allowing just five hits over 5.1 innings of work. Whitman also struck out two batters, even retiring seven batters in a row between the first and third innings.
While Whitman was stymieing the Swamp Bats, the Waves offense had its hands full against Swamp Bats starter Lincoln Henzman (Louisville). Henzman only allowed a leadoff double to Dylan Burdeaux (Southern Mississippi) in the third, managing to strike out five Waves over five innings of work. Hunzman also retired nine batters in a row to end his outing, a stretch dating back to the third inning.
Whitman ran into trouble into the top of the sixth, when the Swamp Bats loaded the bases with one out. Sensing danger, Waves manager Eric Cirella made the call to the bullpen, bringing in the lefty Richard Lovelady (Kennesaw State). Lovelady only needed one pitch to make a difference in the sixth, as he induced a groundout double play to end the jam while maintaining the scoreless deadlock.
Following a shutout relief appearance from Swamp Bats reliever Brian Stepniak (Hartford), the Waves jumped on two Swamp Bats pitchers to get on the board in the eighth. Burdeaux led off the inning by taking a pitch off the leg from Connor Sahlin (Florence-Darlington Tech). Burdeaux moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Mike Corin (Rhode Island). With new pitcher Kade McClure (Louisville) on the mound, Ryan Blanton (Georgia State) flashed his heroics again with an RBI broken-bat single to center to put the Waves ahead of the Swamp Bats, 1-0.
In the bottom of the eighth, Lovelady struck out Connor Foreman (Rhode Island) to lead off the inning. Already with 2.1 innings under his belt, Lovelady's night came to a close after the strikeout, paving the way for Geoff Murphy (Boston College). Murphy proceeded to strike out Chris Hardardt (Hofstra) and Garrett Christman (Butler) to end the frame.
McClure returned to the mound in the top of the ninth, but was welcomed with a leadoff home run off the bat of Tim Lynch (Southern Mississippi) to give the Waves a 2-0 lead. Lynch's blast was his fifth of the summer, putting him within two of the Ocean State Waves single-season record. His colossal shot over the right field fence gave the Waves a 2-1 lead.
After Lovelady and Murphy kept the door closed on the Swamp Bats lineup in the eighth, Cirella turned to closer David Gerber (Creighton) to make his fifth save of the summer. Gerber ran into trouble in the ninth; after getting two quick outs, Gerber loaded the bases courtesy of a single, walk, and an error by Corin at third base. With Lucas Luopa (Eckerd) batting, Gerber uncorked a wild pitch, enabling Larry Crisler (Indiana) to score Keene's first run. Two pitches later, Luopa grounded out to Gerber, clinching a 2-1 victory for the Waves.
With the win, the Waves improve to 8-6 on the summer, maintaining a four-game winning streak in the process. With his solo home run in the ninth, Lynch continued his seven-game hitting streak. Thursday also marked the third straight game in which the Waves pitching staff allowed two or fewer runs.
The Waves return to Old Mountain Field on Friday to host the Mystic Schooners in a Southern Division showdown. Andrew Wright (Southern California) makes his first start of the summer for the Waves after striking out 12 in three relief appearances. Tune in online as Tim Scott and Alex Teixeira bring you the call on the NECBL Broadcast Network. First pitch is set for 6:05 in Wakefield.
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New England Collegiate Baseball League Stories from June 26, 2015
- Mountaineers Fall 7-4 - Vermont Mountaineers
- Swamp Bats Plummet in 3-1 Loss to Mainers - Keene Swamp Bats
- Waves squeak past Swamp Bats, 2-1 - Ocean State Waves
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