HAGERSTOWN, MD - The Delmarva Shorebirds (10-2) relied on both power arms and power bats to sweep the Hagerstown Suns (3-9) in Tuesday night's doubleheader at Municipal Stadium, winning the opener 7-2 and the nightcap 7-3.Game One(click here for game one box score)Zac Lowther (2-0) continued his hot start on
HAGERSTOWN, MD - The Delmarva Shorebirds (10-2) relied on both power arms and power bats to sweep the Hagerstown Suns (3-9) in Tuesday night's doubleheader at Municipal Stadium, winning the opener 7-2 and the nightcap 7-3.
Game One
(click here for game one box score)
Zac Lowther (2-0) continued his hot start on the mound for the Shorebirds, scattering three hits over five scoreless innings while walking none and striking out seven for the win. Alex Troop (1-1) took the loss for the Suns, allowing four runs (three earned) on four hits in four innings.
Delmarva gave Lowther an instant lead with three in the top of the first inning. Kirvin Moesquit led off with a walk, then Zack Jarrett slashed a double down the left field line to make it second and third with nobody out. Will Robertson hit a line drive straight at third base, but Luis García couldn't make the play and let both runs score on the error. T.J. Nichting followed with a triple to the corner in right, plating Robertson to make it 3-0.
Seamus Curran got one up in the jet stream to right for a solo homer in the fourth. Then in the sixth, Ryan Ripken came through against his former team with a two-out two-run single, making it 6-0.
Hagerstown got two in the bottom of the sixth off reliever Zach Muckenhirn. Cole Freeman led off with a walk, then Juan Soto hit his second double of the game to left to bring him in. Soto eventually scored on a two-out single by Garcia to get the Suns back to 6-2.
Nichting struck again in the top of the seventh with a two-out RBI double, and Muckenhirn took care of business in order to ice it.
Nicting led the way offensively in the first game, finishing a home run shy of the cycle and driving in two. Ripken went 2-for-3 with two RBIs; he played 58 games for the Suns in 2016 while a member of the Nationals organizaiton.
Soto, the first SAL Player of the Week this season, continued his blazing start by going 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles and an RBI.
Game Two
Gray Fenter (2-0) picked up the win in the second game for the Shorebirds with three innings of one-run, two-hit ball out of the bullpen. He walked one and struck out five. Nick Raquet (0-2) was dealt the loss for the Suns, allowing four runs (two earned) on three hits in 4.2 innings. Nick Vespi earned his first save with two scoreless in the sixth and seventh. Five Delmarva relievers have now converted 6-of-6 save opportunities.
Moesquit began the nightcap in identical fashion with a leadoff walk, eventually stealing second base and getting to third on an error. Jarrett then smoked a line drive to right field that sped over the short wall for an opposite field home run, putting Delmarva on top 2-0 in the first.
Hagerstown got a run back in the home half of the first. Freeman reached on an error to lead off, then after a flyout and single, Anderson Franco plated Freeman on a base knock to make it 2-1.
Delmarva's defense saved a run for starter DL Hall in the second. With men on second and third and one out, Freeman hoisted a fly out to right field. Branden Boggetto tagged at third and jogged toward the plate, but Frank Crinella unleashed a bullet from right to second base, and Branden Becker was able to slap the tag on Joey Harris for a double play before Boggetto touched home, getting the Shorebirds out of the inning cleanly.
Hall gave up a single and walked two to load the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the third; Fenter came in from the bullpen and limited the damage to just one on a double play groundball and a strikeout. Hall finished the night allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits in two-plus, walking four and striking out two.
Armond Upshaw belted a solo home run in the fourth to put the Suns on top 3-2. The Shorebirds responded with a two-out rally in the fifth. Crinella rolled a single into left, then Moesquit hit a Baltimore chop in front of the plate that Harris mishandled. Up came Jarrett against new pitcher A.J. Bogucki. On the first pitch, Jarrett cranked a towering flyball to center and over the "Muni Monster" for a three-run bomb, his second home run of the game, to put the Shorebirds back up 5-3.
Ripken again came through in the sixth with a two-out RBI single, and Delmarva got one more in the seventh on a Jarrett double and Nichting wind-assisted pop fly single to left.
Jarrett finished his powerhouse night at 3-for-4 with a double, two home runs, three runs scored, and five RBIs. It was the first multi-home run game for a Shorebird since Collin Woody last August 15 at Greensboro.
Soto reached all four times he came to bat with two singles and two walks. He finished the day with a .415 average, .537 OBP, and league-best 20 RBIs.
The Shorebirds go for the series sweep in a Wednesday morning showdown against the Suns. Michael Baumann (2-0, 0.82) gets his second straight earlybird start for Delmarva against Hagerstown's Jackson Tetrealt (0-1, 8.28). First pitch is set for 10:35 a.m., and pregame coverage on Fox Sports 960 AM and the MiLB First Pitch App begins at 10:20 with Will DeBoer on the call.
