Spikes beat Doubledays to clinch division title

AUBURN, NY - The State College Spikes punched their first-ever ticket to the postseason and won the first Pinckney Division championship in franchise history with a 7-4 win over the Auburn Doubledays on Saturday night at Falcon Park.

State College (46-25) will now await the winner of the New York-Penn League's Wild Card berth in the best-of-three Semifinal Series, which begins on Friday, September 6 at the Wild Card's home park. The Spikes will host Game Two and, if necessary, Game Three of the series.

Michael Schulze continued his hot streak at the plate by going 4-for-5, and has put up a .652 average (15-for-23) over his last six games. In addition, Steven Ramos collected three hits to set a new Spikes record with his sixth consecutive multi-hit game. Ramos also upped his league-leading batting average to .362.

The Spikes took a 6-0 lead on Auburn (24-47) over the first four innings and produced 13 hits in the first five. Ronald Castillo helped State College extend its lead with a two-out, two-run single in the fourth inning.

Jimmy Bosco and Matthew Young each put together multi-hit games for State College as well.

Kevin Herget (7-0) earned the win to become the first Spikes pitcher to ever start a season with seven straight winning decisions. Herget allowed two runs on four hits and a walk over six innings, striking out a career-high seven batters along the way.

Chase Brookshire relieved Herget and tossed two innings in which he allowed two unearned runs on one hit and struck out one. Mitch Harris (1) came on for State College and allowed one hit, but elicited a game-ending double play to pick up his first professional save.

Doubledays starter John Simms (0-3) took the loss after yielding six runs on ten hits over 3 1/3 innings. Simms also struck out three batters.

Matt Foat went 2-for-4 and knocked in two runs for Auburn.

Sunday, the Spikes face the Doubledays in a 2:05 p.m. matinee matchup at Falcon Park to complete their two-game mini-series. State College is scheduled to send right-hander Juan Bautista (1-4) to mound, while Auburn will go with left-hander R.C. Orlan (1-5).

The Spikes will then finish the regular season with a three-game series at Russell Diethrick Park against the Jamestown Jammers (Pittsburgh Pirates), who are bidding to be the NYPL's Wild Card, from Monday through Wednesday.

Fans can now purchase Four-Game Playoff Packs, as well as individual playoff game tickets, in anticipation of all potential Spikes' home games during the 2013 NYPL playoffs.  Four-Game Playoff Packs start as low as just $16 per seat and include a $2 per game savings off the single-game price. In addition, each seat purchased as part of a Four-Game Playoff Pack will come with a free, limited edition 2013 Spikes playoff t-shirt while supplies last.

Individual playoff game tickets are available for each of the four potential home playoff games, which will be sold as Games A, B, C and D until exact dates are known. Single-game playoff ticket prices will be the same as regular season prices. 

Four-Game Playoff Packs and individual playoff game tickets will also be able to be purchased at the Spikes Box Office by calling (814) 272-1711 or by visiting in person. Fans can also reserve their Playoff Packs online at State College Spikes.com. 

Catch all of the action on Sunday via the Spikes Radio Network, presented by Penn State Sports Medicine, at 1:50 p.m. with Spikes Live, presented by Mount Nittany Health, on the air from Falcon Park. The Spikes' radio broadcast can also be heard worldwide through the "Listen Live" link on StateCollegeSpikes.com, provided by 95.3 FM 3WZ.