Late Runs Spell Trouble in IronPigs Loss

FORT MILL, S.C. - Two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning propelled the Charlotte Knights to a 3-2 win over the Lehigh Valley IronPigs in the finale of a four-game set Thursday night at Knights Stadium.

Tied 1-1 entering the eighth inning, the Knights (56-63) took the lead as with two outs Marcus Semien cracked a two-run dinger to left field for a 3-1 advantage. In the top of the ninth Josh Fields led off with a double and scored on Steve Lerud's single, but Tyler Henson struck out swinging to end the contest, capping the win for Charlotte.

In a pitcher's duel Tyler Cloyd (4-9) was the tough-luck loser for Lehigh Valley, going all eight innings and allowing three runs on six hits while striking out four. On the other side Erik Johnson went seven one-run innings, before Taylor Thompson (1-0) earned the win with two scoreless innings of relief.

The IronPigs (60-60) were on the board from the start, as Steve Susdorf singled in the first frame and later scored on Cody Overbeck's single to center field. Overbeck, who went 1-for-4, extended his hitting streak to 17 games, which is just four behind Domonic Brown's franchise-record of 21 set between the 2010 and 2011 seasons.

In the fifth Charlotte tied the contest when Mike McDade doubled to left field, scoring Brent Morel who had singled to lead off the frame.

Fields finished 2-for-3 with two doubles, a walk, a run scored and a stolen base on a night the 'Pigs went just 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position.

With their third win in the four-game set, the Knights evened the season-series at four games apiece as the IronPigs dropped to just 26-33 on the road this season.

Lehigh Valley travels to Gwinnett to take on the Braves Friday, in the seventh game of its season-long 10-game road trip. RHP David Buchanan (1-0, 2.57) makes the start for the IronPigs in his second career Triple-A appearance against LHP Yohan Flande (7-6, 4.42) for the Braves. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. at Coolray Field.