Bradenton Drops Series Opener with Lakeland 4-2

Bradenton Drops Series Opener with Lakeland 4-2

Bradenton, Fla. – Three first inning runs paced the Lakeland Flying Tigers as they beat the Bradenton Marauders 4-2 Tuesday evening at LECOM Park.

After starter Matt Ager punched out the first batter he faced in the top of the first, Lakeland placed runners at the corners on a Bryce Rainer single and Franyerber Montilla walk. With one out, Jackson Strong rolled a ground to first, that bounced over Eddy Rodriguez after a tricky hop. On the play, Rainer scored to make it 1-0 Lakeland.

The next hitter was Carson Rucker who lined a soft single to right that brought home Montilla to extend the lead to two runs.

Two hitters later, Garrett Pennington singled to left to score Strong and make it 3-0.

Bradenton rallied in the bottom of the fifth with two outs, when Ethan Lege singled with ahead of Eddy Rodriguez who roped and RBI double to left to cut the deficit to 3-1. Rodriguez now has three extra-base hits and three RBI over his last four games.

After a sixth-inning Garrett Pennington homer grew their lead 4-1, Bradenton made one last push in the bottom of the seventh when they loaded the bases on a single and two walks. With one out, Cam Janik sent a sacrifice fly to right to cap scoring at 4-2.

With the loss, Bradenton fell to 11-17 while Lakeland moved to 16-12.

The two return to LECOM Park Wednesday night with first pitch set for 6:30 p.m and coverage beginning at 6:15 on MiLB.TV and the Marauders Broadcast Network.