Visalia, CA- The Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino fell to the Visalia Rawhide at Recreation Park 4-3 in 11-innings on Friday. The win secured a three-game sweep for the Rawhide as Visalia has won all nine meetings between the two ballclubs in 2019; all those games have been played
Visalia, CA- The Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino fell to the Visalia Rawhide at Recreation Park 4-3 in 11-innings on Friday. The win secured a three-game sweep for the Rawhide as Visalia has won all nine meetings between the two ballclubs in 2019; all those games have been played in Visalia.
Inland Empire (32-60, 6-17) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fifth against Jeff Bain when Devin Davis doubled and then came home two batters later on Cam Williams double. The Rawhide made the lead short-lived against Sixers righty Cristopher Molina in the bottom of the frame when three straight singles and a RBI groundout gave Visalia (58-31, 14-9) a 2-1 advantage. The Sixers tied it in the sixth however, when Gareth Morgan launched an opposite-field homer to right field to tie the game. That was the Sixers' fourth hit of the game to that point, all extra-base hits; Inland Empire did not collect another hit the rest of the game. Bain went seven innings allowing two runs on four hits with no walks and 12 Ks. Molina was stellar for the Sixers tossing 6.1 innings with six Ks and no walks. The game remained tied and both teams pushed a run across in the tenth. After the Sixers failed to score in the top of the 11th, Jose Herrera bounced a game-winning RBI single up the box against IE reliever Ben Morrison (1-2) to knock home the winning run. Cole Bartlett (6-4) was credited with the win for a Visalia staff that struck out 15 walking only two. The Sixers staff allowed ten hits with no walks while fanning 11. All ten of Visalia's hits were singles. Morgan's homer was his 14th of the season and his 13th in 28 games with Inland Empire.
The 66ers open a series at Modesto on Saturday at 7:05 pm. The contest can be heard live at 66ers.com.
