Karstetter thrills hometown in walk-off win

BOX SCORE/PLAY-BY-PLAY (via PitchAware)

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – State College native Kevin Karstetter was the hero on Monday afternoon at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park as his walk-off single gave the State College Spikes an 8-7 victory over the Trenton Thunder.

Karstetter, playing just his fourth game of the Major League Baseball Draft League season after a lengthy layoff, drilled a 2-2 pitch to right field to score Zion Pettigrew from third for the game-winning run.

A product of the State College of Florida, Karstetter had earlier smashed his first home run in the MLB Draft League with a solo shot to the Pepsi Picnic Pavilion in left field in the fourth off Trenton (18-11) starter Chris Jefferson.

The late-inning heroics capped a back-and-forth slugfest between the Spikes (15-20) and Thunder. Nathan Church gave State College a 4-3 lead in the seventh with a three-run homer to left off Javier Ramos. Church’s dinger tied him for third place in the MLB Draft League in home runs with teammate Marques Paige and Carson Matthews of the Thunder.

However, Trenton came back with a four-run eighth inning. Jordan Hollins landed the big blow with a three-run homer to center off Spikes reliever Drew Garrett, putting him into sole possession of second place on the MLB Draft League homer list with five. Two batters later, John Cristino delivered a solo shot to center, his first of the season, off Christian Wall (1-1) to extend Trenton’s lead to 7-4.

State College responded with a pair of runs in the eighth as Hylan Hall scored on a wild pitch and Lukas Cook drove in a run with a groundout. In the ninth, Paige led off with a double to left, and after Tyler Heckert pinch-ran for him, singles from Pettigrew and Church brought him in for the tying run and set up Karstetter’s game-ender.

Wall picked up the win in relief for State College, going two innings and allowing one run on one hit and one walk. The southpaw also struck out three batters.

Spikes starter Louis Davenport III allowed two runs on four hits and five walks over 4 2/3 innings, notching six strikeouts in the process.

Rob Griswold (0-1) took the loss for Trenton after entering the game in the ninth and allowed both runs in the frame on four hits without recording an out.

The Spikes will now head to Eastwood Field in Ohio for a three-game series against the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, starting with a 7:05 p.m. matchup on Tuesday. Right-hander and University of Oklahoma commit Griffin Miller (1-3) is slated to start for State College against an as yet unnamed Mahoning Valley starter.

Following the series in Mahoning Valley, the Spikes will go their separate ways as they prepare to hear their names called at the 2021 MLB Draft, which will take place starting on Sunday, July 11 as part of MLB All-Star Week in Denver. The MLB Draft League will take a six-day break for the draft, and restart its inaugural season on Thursday, July 15.

The Spikes will return home for their first post-MLB Draft home game on Saturday, July 17, when they take on the Williamsport Crosscutters at 6:35 p.m. Fans can join with the Spikes to fight breast cancer on Paint the Park Pink Night, presented by Mount Nittany Health. The festivities include a Spikes Pink Mask Giveaway presented by Mount Nittany Health for the first 250 fans, with additional masks for sale to benefit the Mount Nittany Health Foundation.

Plus, the skies will light up after the game with the first of six more FIREWORKS shows on the 2021 home slate.

Tickets for every remaining home game on the Spikes’ 2021 home schedule are currently on sale through the Spikes Ticket Office. Tickets can be purchased by calling (814) 272-1711 or by visiting the Ticket Office in person from 9 a.m. to the end of the game on gamedays Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to the end of the game on gamedays Saturday and Sunday, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on non-gamedays Monday through Friday.

Fans can also buy and download single-game tickets by visiting StateCollegeSpikes.com.

Catch all of the action on July 17 via the Spikes Radio Network, presented by Penn State Sports Medicine, Official Healthcare Provider of Penn State Athletics, starting with Spikes Live, presented by Mount Nittany Health, on the air from Medlar Field at Lubrano Park. The game can be viewed worldwide on the *MLB Draft League *streaming platform at MLBDraftLeague.com/streaming, along with the “Listen Live” link on StateCollegeSpikes.com and the *TuneIn Radio *app.