Hilson Hits First Home Run of the Season as Marauders Fall 7-5

LAKELAND, FL — The Bradenton Marauders dropped the series finale to the Lakeland Flying Tigers 7-5 on Sunday afternoon at Publix Field at Joker Marchant Stadium.

Lakeland opened up the game's scoring with a run in the first inning. Khristian Curtis (0-1) retired the first two batters in the frame before allowing a solo home run to Josue Briceno.

After the Marauders evened the score at one in the third on a P.J. Hilson solo home run, they took their only lead of the game in the fourth. Garret Forrester walked and then scored on a throwing error from Cristian Santana to push Bradenton in front 2-1.

Curtis retired the next seven batters after allowing the home run to Briceno in the first before the Flying Tigers plated five runs in the fourth. The first two batters reached base on a walk and a single against Curtis before Clayton Campbell clubbed a three-run home run to make it 4-2 Lakeland. Once the Marauders starter departed, Cristian Santana scored Brett Callahan with a sacrifice fly and John Peck doubled home Jose De La Cruz to push the Lakeland advantage to 6-2.

The Marauders chipped away in the fifth against Garrett Apker (1-0). The right-hander allowed a single and a walk to Hilson and Jesus Castillo to begin the inning before recording a balk on back-to-back pitches. With Hilson scoring on the second balk, Castillo crossed home on a Shalin Polanco groundout to trim the deficit to 6-4.

Santana then crushed the third Lakeland home run of the afternoon, a solo blast to extend their advantage to 7-4. Bradenton once again inched closer in the eighth. Geral Toledo singled to begin the inning and advanced to second on a wild pitch, third on a balk and ultimately scoring on a wild pitch from Patrick Pridgen to make it 7-5.

In the ninth, Yosber Sanchez (SV,2) recorded the first two outs with ease before Castillo doubled to deep right field. Toledo then reached base on a Santana error at second to extend the game and bring the go-ahead run to the plate in Polanco. Sanchez punched out Polanco to end the contest and complete the six-game sweep of the Marauders.

In his second rehab appearance of the week, Ben Heller struck out two in a scoreless inning. Curtis punched out a career-high five batters in three-plus innings on the mound.

After an off day on Monday, the Marauders return home on Tuesday to begin a six-game series against the Daytona Tortugas at LECOM Park. First pitch on Tuesday is scheduled for 5:30 p.m., with pregame coverage beginning at 5:10 pm on the Marauders Broadcast Network.