Jupiter Sweeps Palm Beach

JUPITER, Fla. - The Jupiter Hammerheads used a two-run sixth inning to defeat the Palm Beach Cardinals 2-1 in Florida State League action at Roger Dean Stadium on Wednesday night. The win was Jupiter's fifth in a row and allowed the Hammerheads to sweep the short two-game series.

The Wednesday night contest began as a duel between both starting pitchers, as just one hit was produced in the first three innings and only one more batter than the minimum was sent to the plate. Palm Beach (24-29) finally broke through with its first hit and only run of the game in the top of the fourth frame. Brett Wiley started the two-out surge with a double down the right-field line. Wiley then moved just 90-feet away from home plate after a wild pitch from Sean Townsley. Jake Gronsky was then able to collect the lone Cardinal RBI with a single to left field to give the Redbirds a 1-0 edge.

Jupiter (27-26) attempted to answer the Cardinals' score in the fourth, but left two runners stranded in the inning. The Hammerheads would then go silently in the fifth and finally have an answer in the sixth. Jupiter used a one-out walk from Avery Romero followed by a double from Austin Dean to put two runners in scoring position with just one out in the inning. Felix Munoz earned the first RBI for Jupiter with a sacrifice fly to deep right field that allowed Romero to tag and score easily to tie the game. Brian Anderson then pushed Dean across the plate for the game-winning run on an infield-single deep in the hole at shortstop.

Sean Townsley, Jupiter's starting pitcher, earned the win to go to 3-7 on the season, while Tyler Kinley earned his eighth save of 2015. Townsley hurled six innings of three-hit baseball allowing just one run with two walks and six strikeouts. Kinley pitched a perfect ninth frame with two strikeouts in the save. Also making an appearance on the mound for Jupiter was Scott McGough. McGough allowed just two hits with one strikeout in his two-inning 2015 debut after missing 2014 due to injury.

Luke Weaver (0-2) was the losing pitcher for Palm Beach. Weaver gave up two runs on five hits with one walk and four strikeouts in his six innings pitched. Brian Anderson led the Hammerheads offensively with a 2-3 performance and one RBI. Anderson was the only Hammerhead with a multi-hit game.

The Jupiter Hammerheads will now travel to the west coast of Florida for a three-game series with the division-leading Charlotte Stone Crabs beginning on Thursday. Jupiter will not return to Roger Dean Stadium until June 12 when they play host to the Charlotte Stone Crabs. First pitch has been scheduled for 6:35 p.m. To purchase tickets, please call (561) 630-1828 or visit RogerDeanStadium.com. Also follow the Jupiter Hammerheads on Facebook and Twitter (@GoHammerheads) for updates and news around the ballpark.