Mets belt out 15 hits, beat Marauders 6-3

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (May 2, 2015) - The St. Lucie Mets held off multiple rallies from Bradenton and defeated the Marauders 6-3 on Saturday at Tradition Field.
 
The Mets pounded out 15 hits in the game. Jeff McNeil, Michael Conforto and Jhoan Urena each had three hits, while Amed Rosario and Yeixon Ruiz had two hits apiece.
 
The Mets jumped out to a 5-0 lead with three runs on five singles in the second and two more runs in the third.
 
Adrian Abreu started the scoring with an RBI single in the second. McNeil followed with an RBI ground out two batters later. Conforto made it 3-0 with a run-scoring single to left.
 
Urena drove in both runs in the second on a double to make it 5-0.
 
The Mets ran into trouble in the fifth. With Rob Whalen pitching, Jin-De Jhang grounded into what looked like a double play, but McNeil tossed the ball away at second base and runners were safe at first and second. Back-to-back singles followed to score a run and load the bases.
 
Whalen then walked Justin Maffei to make it 5-2 and reload the bases. Kyle Regnault came out of the bullpen and got Reese McGuire to line into a double play to end the threat. Rosario made a sliding catch on the liner beyond second base, and McNeil covered the bag and caught Rosario's wayward throw with his bare hand to double off the base runner.
 
The Mets added an insurance run on McNeil's third hit of the game in the eighth that scored Urena to make it 6-2.
 
The Marauders would not go quietly in the ninth. Akeel Morris walked the first three batters by throwing 12 of his first 13 pitches out of the strike zone. An RBI sac fly by Wyatt Mathisen made it 6-3. Austin Meadows and pinch hitter Jordan Steranka both came to the plate as the tying run, but Morris struck both out to end the game.
 
Regnault got the win. Marauders starter Frank Duncan was tagged for the loss.
 
The Mets bullpen - Regnault, Mike Hepple and Morris - walked five batters but did not allow a hit in the final 4.2 innings.
 
The series between the Mets (12-11) and Marauders (11-12) concludes on Sunday at Tradition Field. First pitch is at 1 p.m.
 
It's Sunday Brunch with the gates opening at 11:30 a.m. For $15 fans can get a ticket and access to brunch on the third base party deck.