Seven Game Homestand Ends in Close Game

LAKE ELSINORE, Calif. - The Storm hosted the Lancaster JetHawks and the San Jose Giants over a seven-game home stand that began last Wednesday.
Lake Elsinore first welcomed Lancaster to The Diamond for a four-game series in which the teams ended up splitting. Wednesday's game offered a late rally from a 5-0 deficit when the Storm tallied two runs on a pair of solo shots off the bats of Kyle Overstreet and newly-added outfielder Rod Boykin, cutting the lead to three.
The JetHawks would get one back in the ninth to put the game seemingly out of reach, but Lake Elsinore stringed together several base hits and drew a couple of walks to cut the lead to one. The Storm had opportunities to tie the game and possibly take the lead with one out and the bases loaded, but the next batter popped up in the infield and the last Storm hitter struck out with a full count to end the game, 6-5 JetHawks.
Lake Elsinore's bats picked up where they left off from the late game rally the night before. A huge five run fourth inning gave starting pitcher Adrian De Horta and the Storm an early 7-2 lead, but the JetHawks would immediately match that inning with a five run frame of their own.
The Storm would retake the lead in the bottom of the fifth and score again in the sixth to win 11-7 while the bullpen worked 4.2 shutout innings of relief. Lake Elsinore's offense connected for 13 hits, seven of which went for extra bases.
Both Overstreet and Boykin went yard again, while Edwin Moreno hit his seventh home run of the season and newly-added first baseman Fernando Perez hit his first home run this season with the Storm. Moreno and Overstreet each collected four RBIs.
Lake Elsinore would add 13 more base hits Friday night to give starting pitcher Logan Allen his first Storm win of the season with a 9-1 final.
Boykin hit his third home run in as many games, while Cal League Player of the Week Austin Allen added one to give him a team-best 13 home runs this season. Javier Guerra and Carlos Belen each collected a pair of doubles.
Logan Allen allowed just one run over six innings in which he gave up seven base hits and a walk while striking out four.
Storm starting pitcher Jake Esch turned in a gutsy performance the following night, tossing a complete game but taking the loss with no run support. Allen was the lone Storm player to turn in a multi-hit game as the Storm fell 4-0.
The Giants came to Lake Elsinore Sunday evening to begin a three-game series. It's the only trip San Jose would make to The Diamond this season, but it would be a memorable one.
After putting up a four spot in the third, Lake Elsinore held on to a 4-1 lead for most of the night. The Giants came back strong, putting together three base hits and drawing a walk to make the game interesting. A costly Storm throwing error would complete the San Jose comeback to give the Giants the 5-4 win in the series opener.
On a night with no music, no promotions, and no tickets, Lake Elsinore would even the series with a 4-2 win in front of a crowd of over 4,000 fans. Starting pitcher Jacob Nix picked up his third win, going seven strong innings and allowing just two runs on five hits and a walk while striking out three. Overstreet went 3-for-4 to improve his hitting streak to 11 straight games.
Lake Elsinore would lose the final game of the homestand and the series to the San Jose Giants after a disastrous seventh inning filled with miscues and base hits gave the Giants five runs for a 6-4 win.
Jesse Scholtens threw a great game for Lake Elsinore, giving up just one run through six innings and striking out five.
The Storm return to The Diamond July 24 for a three-game series against the Inland Empire 66ers.