Elizalde's 9th inning 1B wins it for Daytona

Daytona Beach, FL - It all came down to the bottom of the ninth. The Daytona Tortugas (5-3) had overcome three different deficits in a back-and-forth battle with the Tampa Yankees (5-4) on Friday night, and after a double from CF Phillip Ervin and a throwing error by Danny Oh, they had the winning run at third base in the bottom of the ninth.

The batter was LF Sebastian Elizalde, who entered the game in an 0-for-16 slump. He was ready to break out. With Angel Rincon (BS, 1)(L, 0-1) on the mound, Elizalde lined a single to left field, scoring Ervin with the winning run and sending the crowd into a frenzy. The Tortugas entered that at bat with two hits in their last 29 trips with runners in scoring position. 

For the sixth time in eight games, the Tortugas allowed the first run. LHP Amir Garrett surrendered two singles and two walks (including a bases loaded free pass) to force in a run. He would settle down eventually, finishing after five innings with three runs allowed on seven hits with just the two walks and six strikeouts.

Daytona answered quickly with two runs in the bottom of the first. Ervin led off with a double, Elizalde walked, and 1B Chad Wallach and RF Jeff Gelalich knocked them both in with RBI singles, giving Daytona a 2-1 lead. 

The Tortugas held that narrow lead for half an inning; Vicente Conde started the second with a single, and scored on a triple by Mark Payton, who ripped a liner over Ervin's head in left center. Two batters later, Miguel Andujar scored Payton on a single to center, and the Yankees retook a 3-2 lead.

Daytona evened the score in the fifth on a sacrifice fly from Elizalde, who finished the night 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs. 

Each team scored twice in the seventh inning. Tampa earned a 5-3 cushion, the biggest lead for either team, with a run-scoring double play off the bat of Kyle Higashioka and an RBI double from Oh. In the bottom half, 2B Carlton Daal singled and scored on one of Ervin's three doubles. 

SS Alex Blandino then bounced one back to the pitcher, and Ervin was thrown out trying to advance to second base. With the rally seemingly vanquished, the Tortugas capitalized on a hit-and-run single from Elizalde to put runners on the corners. Two wild pitches later, Blandino raced home with the tying run. 

The back-end of Daytona's bullpen was tremendous as usual, as RHP Jimmy Moran, LHP Blaine Howell, and RHP El'Hajj Muhammad (W, 1-0) combined to allow just one hit and two walks over the final three innings of the ballgame. 

Ervin went 3-for-4 with three doubles, three runs, and an RBI. Wallach also added a single, double and RBI, and has hits in four of his last seven at bats. 

The middle game of this three-game series is scheduled for Saturday night at 7:05 p.m., with RHP Nick Howard facing LHP Conner Kendrick at Radiology Associates Field at Jackie Robinson Ballpark.