Karns Dominant, Sens Take Game Three 4-1

Harrisburg, PA - Nathan Karns tossed seven dominant shutout innings to lead the Harrisburg Senators to a 4-1 victory over the Erie SeaWolves at Metro Bank Park, giving them a 2-1 edge in the best-of-five Western Division Championship Series.

The Senators took an early edge with a run in the third inning. Brian Goodwin delivered a bloop RBI single to left center field, scoring Jeff Howell from second base with two out. They added to their lead in the sixth, when Justin Bloxom laced an RBI double over the head of Erie left fielder Tyler Collins, also coming with two out in the inning.

Karns retired the first 11 hitters he faced and 18 of the first 20. The right-hander allowed just five hits and struck out eight. The only big jam he had to maneuver out of came in the seventh. After the SeaWolves loaded the bases with three straight one-out singles, Karns fanned Marcus Lemon and Wade Gaynor to escape the threat.

Erie cut the lead in half in the eighth on an RBI infield single by Ramon Cabrera, but they stranded two more on base.

Harrisburg added a couple of insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth. Jason Martinson led off with a towering home run to left center field. Later in the frame, Steven Souza, Jr. delivered a sacrifice-fly.

Tyler Herron threw a scoreless ninth inning to record his second save of the series.   

Tomorrow, the Senators try to close out the best-of-five Western Division Championship Series in Game 4 at Metro Bank Park. Game time is 7:00 p.m. and the game can be heard on 1460am The Ticket, on the Internet through the Senators website, and it's available through iHeart Radio beginning with the pregame show at 6:40 p.m.