Vermont Falls 4-3 In 18 Innings Tuesday

NORWICH, CT --- Devon Travis hit a two-out, two-run homer off Vermont infielder Sam Roberts in the bottom of the 18th inning to give the Connecticut Tigers a 4-3 victory over the Lake Monsters in New York-Penn League action Tuesday night at Dodd Stadium. The 18 innings tied the Vermont record for innings played, tying a 5-4 Lake Monster 5-4 win on July 28, 2008 at historic Centennial Field.

Brett Vertigan had given Vermont its first run since the second inning with a two-out RBI single in the 18th inning to score Austin Booker for a 3-2 Lake Monster lead. Roberts, who had come into pitch in the bottom 17th and recorded the final out of inning, got the first two outs of the bottom of the 18th on a popup and strikeout. Juaner Aguasvivas then reached on a fielding error by third baseman Chad Lewis before Travis ended the game with his first home run of the season.

John Wooten and Bruce Maxwell had back-to-back singles to open the second inning, the last hits for the Lake Monsters until a Wooten two-out single in the ninth inning. After the Wooten and Maxwell singles in the second, Wilfredo Solano laid down a sacrifice bunt and reached safely when first baseman Juaner Aguasvivas missed the catch allowing Wooten to score. Vermont then made it 2-0 when Maxwell scored an unearned run on a Chad Lewis RBI groundout.

Connecticut scored single runs in the fourth and fifth innings to tie the game at two. The Tigers put together three hits against Vermont starter Brent Powers in the fourth, including a Tyler Hanover RBI single, and then scored an unearned run in the fifth on a Danry Vasquez sacrifice fly scoring Jake Stewart who had reached a throwing error by shortstop Solano to open the inning.

Five Vermont relievers combined to toss 13 scoreless innings on six hits with one walk and 13 strikeouts before the unearned runs on the two-run game-ending homer, including 4 2/3 scoreless innings with seven strikeouts from Kurt Wunderlich, Tigers starter Montreal Robertson allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits with two walks and eight strikeouts over the first seven innings, while five Connecticut relievers combined to allow one run on four hits with 10 strikeouts over the final 11 innings.

It will be a quick turnaround for both teams as Vermont (16-13) wraps up its eight-game roadtrip on Wednesday with an 11:05 am game at Connecticut. The Lake Monsters return home to historic Centennial Field for a quick two-game homestand against the Stedler Division-leading Tri-City ValleyCats on Thursday and Friday at 7:05 pm.