Ports sink Storm for second straight night

Stockton takes game two of four with a 4-2 defeat of The Eyes

By Tyler Zickel - Storm Digital Media

May 24, 2015

LAKE ELSINORE, CA - The Lake Elsinore Storm fell to the Stockton Ports 4-2 Saturday night, dropping game two of a four game series at The Diamond.

Stockton struck first in the fourth after three scoreless frames. The Ports used a one out double from Matt Chapman to get things going, and the runner advanced to third on a ground out in the next at-bat. A walk put runners on the corners with two outs, setting the stage for an RBI infield single off the bat of Franklin Berreto that made it 1-0.

Lake Elsinore got the run back in the bottom of the inning. Auston Bousfield reached on a lead-off single, but was nearly stranded after back-to-back outs. Consecutive singles from Gabriel Quintana and River Stevens were enough to tie the game at one run apiece.

Storm starter Matt Shepherd turned in his best outing of the season. The Bluff City, Tennessee native worked four innings and scattered six hits with just one walk, and the righty left the game with the score tied 1-1.

Genison Reyes (L, 1-3) worked a scoreless fifth but ran in to trouble in the sixth. Stockton's Tyler Marincov singled to open the inning, then scored on Beau Taylor's triple to put the Ports up 2-1. Justin Higley doubled their advantage with a sacrifice fly that scored Taylor and made it 3-1.

A lead-off single from Bousfield coupled with an error and two ground outs scored the second Storm run in the bottom of the sixth, but it wasn't enough as Stockton went on to score an insurance run in the eighth and secure a 4-2 victory.

Bousfield paced the offense with a 2 for 4 performance, scoring both Storm runs in the process. Brandon Alger and Chris Nunn kept the Ports off the scoreboard with one and 1.1 innings of work, respectively.

The series continues Sunday afternoon at The Diamond in Lake Elsinore. Zech Lemond (2-2, 3.83 ERA) gets the ball for the Storm (17-25), while Kyle Finnegan (2-2, 5.54 ERA) will go for Stockton (20-23 ). First pitch is slated for 1:00pm.

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