Doubledays take second straight in Connecticut

NORWICH, CT - Sometimes, the wins are just easy.

Sure, the Doubledays have experienced a lot of thrilling victories this season. But they'll gladly take one like this, a 4-1 win in Connecticut over the Tigers that saw their bats fly early and late, and their pitching dominate all night long.

In the bottom of the second, Auburn got things going when Matt Page reached on an error by Tigers shortstop Garett Mattlage with two outs. Mattlage's gaffe proved enormous, when Dale Carey came up and launched the first pitch he saw into the sun for a 2-0 Doubledays lead. That was enough to tag starter AJ Ladwig (0-1) with the loss. He lasted just two innings.

Doubledays rotation stalwart Travis Ott was solid once again, though he experienced some control problems. Ott walked a season-high six, including four in a fourth that brought home the only Tigers run of the evening. Still, Ott got outs when it counted, and it's not as if Connecticut could hit the left-hander; he allowed just two hits on 76 pitches. David Ramos (1-0) relieved Ott and was brilliant, allowing just one hit across three shutout innings.

In the top of the ninth, the Doubledays took to the basepaths once more. Carey lined a one-out single, and ended up on third after a Cody Gunter walk and a Clay Williamson fielder's choice. After Osvaldo Abreu walked to load the bases against young reliever Paul Voelker, Jose Marmolejos scorched a hard grounder to the hole behind third base. Steven Fuentes made the play on the ball, which would have held the Doubledays to just one run on the single, but he airmailed the throw to first, allowing all runners to advance.

When the dust settled, the Doubledays led 4-1. Tyler Mapes, who joined the Doubledays just last week, pitched a spotless ninth for his first professional save.

The Doubledays go for the sweep tomorrow night at 7:05, when RHP James Bourque (0-0, 5.68) opposes Tigers RHP Chase Edwards (3-1, 2.40). Coverage begins with Doubledays Pregame at 6:50 on 98.1 FM and 1590 AM WAUB. Fans can download the WAUB app to their tabloid or smartphone by searching for it on the app stores and Google Play, or they can stream the game on TuneIn here.