Marauders Snap Three Game Skid in Tampa

Tampa, Fla. — The Marauders (25-23) and the Tarpons (20-28) were slated for the third game of their six-game set at Steinbrenner Field on Thursday night. The game had a scheduled start time of 6:30 but got underway after 8:30 as the late-night affair saw the Marauders rally in the later innings to claim a 7-2 victory.

Marauders starter Wilber Dotel chucked two and a third innings allowing a pair of runs, one earned, while striking out three. Julian Bosnic got his first professional win out of the bullpen for Bradenton after tossing three shutout innings to close out the game.

Bradenton got two men in scoring position with no one out but did not convert, which allowed Tampa to promptly take the lead in the home half of the first when a runner reached on an error and then came into score, making it 1-0 after an inning played.

Tampa added another run in the third and would carry a 2-0 lead into the back half of the ballgame.

Termarr Johnson got the offense going with a leadoff double in the top of the sixth inning. He came into score when Rodolfo Nolasco got the job done with a productive groundout to cut the deficit to a 2-1 scoreline.

Nick Cimillo led off the top of the seventh with a bang; the Marauders’ DH drove the first pitch deep to the left, collecting his third home run of the year to tie the game a 2-2 heading into the seventh inning stretch.

In the eighth inning, Rodolfo Nolasco reached base on a single. Then he advanced to third on a pair of balks on consecutive pitches, giving Shalin Polanco a chance to single to the shallow left to provide Bradenton with a 3-2 lead.

After four more runs were added by the ‘Ders in the top of the ninth, Bosnic shut down the Tarpons and capped the game off with a strikeout to secure the 7-2 win.

The Marauders will look to even the series on Friday night in Tampa, with Alessandro Ercolani expected to start for Bradenton.