Marauders Fall in Extras on Rainy Friday Evening
Bradenton, Fla. — The Marauders (18-13) welcomed over 1,000 fans to LECOM Park on Women in Sports Night as they took on Lakeland (13-18). The game would enter a lengthy rain delay after just three innings of play; after resuming, the game went on to need extra innings to decide
Bradenton, Fla. — The Marauders (18-13) welcomed over 1,000 fans to LECOM Park on Women in Sports Night as they took on Lakeland (13-18). The game would enter a lengthy rain delay after just three innings of play; after resuming, the game went on to need extra innings to decide a winner, and it was the Tiger who took the 3-2 win in the 10th inning for the second time in the series.
Thomas Harrington started for the ‘Ders and tossed three scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out four before his outing ended early due to the rain delay. The game was tied at 0-0 when the nearly two-hour delay began, with the Marauders staff and grounds crew doing a fantastic job of getting the tarp on and off.
In the top of the fourth, MLB rehab pitcher Blake Cerderlind took to the mound in his first competitive outing in over two years. The righty collected a pair of quick outs before walking two and hitting a batter to load the bases. On the first pitch to the next man up, a balk was called that saw the first run of the game score; the very next pitch, another balk was called, bringing in the second run of the game to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead.
The Marauders added a run in the seventh to cut the deficit to one, aided by good pitching from Ryan Harbin, who struck out seven in three innings; Bradenton entered the home ninth down by a run. After Tanner Tredaway reached with one out in the inning, followed by a strikeout, Omar Alfonzo stepped in to take just his fifth at bat in Single-A. The catcher found himself in a full count when he drove a ball down the line to the left field wall to score the runner from first and tie the game at 2-2.
In the top of the 10th, the Tigers perfectly executed a sacrifice bunt to push the runner to third with one away. The first pitch to the next man up was popped up in the infield, but… a balk was called. All three runs for Lakeland in the game were scored on balks; the Tigers finished with just two hits after ten innings while being struck out a whopping 16 times.
The Marauders threatened with a runner on third and two outs in the bottom of the 10th and a runner on third but could not tie the game up to force an 11th inning as the Tigers took the 3-2 win.
The Marauders look to reclaim the series lead on Saturday night a LECOM Park with JP Massey on the mound.