Emperors Stun Cyclones, 8-7, After Five-Run Bottom of the Eighth

ROME, Ga – Nick Ward’s two-out, two RBI single in the eighth was the difference in Wednesday night’s 8-7 win over the Brooklyn Cyclones. It was the penultimate hit in Rome’s five-hit, five-run bottom of the eighth inning that saw ten Emperors come to the plate.

Kevin Kilpatrick Jr. reached base safely in the first following a missed catch error on Brooklyn’s Ryan Clifford. Sabin Ceballo’s fifth double of the year put him and Kilpatrick on second and third for Ethan Workinger who grounded out 5-to-3 to plate Rome’s first run. Trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the third, E.J. Exposito’s sixth double of the season plated Zebrowski who had walked the at-bat prior. That marked E.J.’s sixth straight game with a run driven in.

The first of two clutch Nick Ward singles came in the fifth. A two-out RBI single to right tied the ball game at three, bringing in Ethan Workinger who had reached on a walk. That got starter Owen Murphy off the hook who struck out eight ‘Clones over 5.0 innings of work.

Schanaman would get roughed up in the seventh. Two doubles and a two-run homerun put Brooklyn ahead 6-3. Johnson, who would wind up with the win, gave up an unearned run in the eighth as well.

The eighth began with a trio of one-out singles from Clarno, Kilpatrick, and Ceballos. After a Workinger groundout, Zebrowski singled ahead of back-to-back walks to Exposito and Tavarez which brought up Ward would deliver big time.

Tomorrow’s ballgame is set for 7:00pm EDT. Probable starters are Brooklyn’s Brandon Sproat and Rome’s Spencer Schwellenbach