Bollinger Deals Independence Day Victory

ALTOONA, PA --- Ryan Bollinger turned in his second straight quality start and earned his fourth win of the season thanks to six early runs of support by the Thunder offense in an 8-3 win on Wednesday night at Peoples Natural Gas Field in Altoona. 
Bollinger maneuvered around nine baserunners in his six innings, surrendering only one run. The left-hander struck out a career-high nine batters in his outing which included striking out the side in order in the fifth inning.
The Thunder offense jumped out to an early 6-1 lead after three innings. In the first, Abiatal Avelino followed a Billy Fleming single with a line drive shot that struck Curve starter Eduardo Vera and forced him to leave the game. Two batters later, Gosuke Katoh hit a three-run home run off Tate Scioneaux to give the visitors an early advantage. 
In the third inning, the Thunder used four hits to plate three runs with Mandy Alvarez, Wendell Rijo and Ryan Lidge all driving in runs in the frame. 
Altoona grabbed a pair off of reliever David Sosebee in the seventh inning when Cole Tucker hit a solo home run and Logan Hill drove in a run with a triple. However, the Thunder offense would add single runs in the eighth and ninth inning to make the July 4th victory over Altoona more comfortable. 
Wendell Rijo and Ryan Lidge, the eighth and ninth batters in the order, combined to go 5-for-9 with a walk and three runs batted in in the victory. The Thunder offense accounted for 14 hits with Billy Fleming, Abiatal Avelino and Mandy Alvarez also adding two-hit games. 
Your Thunder continue their road trip on Thursday night at 7:00pm against the Curve. RHP Dillon Tate will start for the Thunder, RHP Bret Helton will go for Akron. Pre-game coverage begins at 6:45pm on 920 AM The Jersey and online www.TrentonThunder.com/Broadcast.