Lake Elsinore, CA- The Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino spotted the Lake Elsinore Storm three unearned runs in the first inning en route to an 8-2 loss at the Diamond on Saturday. Jordan Zimmerman went 3-for-3 with a double and a walk for Inland Empire (5-5) but the Sixers
Lake Elsinore, CA- The Inland Empire 66ers of San Bernardino spotted the Lake Elsinore Storm three unearned runs in the first inning en route to an 8-2 loss at the Diamond on Saturday. Jordan Zimmerman went 3-for-3 with a double and a walk for Inland Empire (5-5) but the Sixers went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position and committed three errors on the night after committing just two in their first nine games of the season.
Sixers' starter Oliver Ortega (0-1) got two quick outs in the first but Eguy Rosario's grounder to shortstop was mishandled by Inland Empire's Leonardo Rivas to extend the innng. Tirso Ornelas then singled. Jack Suwinski followed with what appeared to be an inning-ending pop out to shallow right but 66ers' 2B Alvaro Rubalcaba dropped the chance and two runs came home. Gabriel Arias followed with a RBI single to make it three unearned runs and a 3-0 advantage for the Storm. The Sixers got a run back in the second when Kyle Survance Jr. snapped an 0-for-17 slump with a sharp single and eventually scored on Rubalcaba's single. Inland Empire loaded the bags versue LE starter Luis Patiño but Orlando Martinez' hot smash was scooped up by Storm 2B Kelvin Melean to end the inning. The Storm added a run in the third making 4-1 when Ornelas smashed his first homer of the season. The cut it to 4-2 in the fourth when Zimmerman doubled and eventually scored on relief pitcher Caleb Bousley's (2-0) errant pickoff attempt. Inland Empire got no closer and fell to 2-5 versus the Storm this season..
The series at Lake Elsinore concludes Sunday at 1:00 pm. The contest can be heard live at 66ers.com.
