Marauders Sweep Doubleheader

Bradenton, Fla.--- The Marauders (34-22, 69-52) and the Palm Beach Cardinals (25-29, 62-57) for the first game of a five-game series on a perfect Friday night for baseball on the Suncoast. Bradenton won both seven-inning matchups in the evening doubleheader slate by final scores of 2-1 and 4-2.

The Marauders got a solid start from lefthander Hunter Barco in game one. The University of Florida product faced 13 batters across four innings, allowing just one hit while striking out seven Cards hitters, more than half the total batters faced in the outing.

In the bottom of the second, the Marauders shot out in front thanks to a leadoff solo blast off the bat of team homerun leader Rodolfo Nolasco to put the good guys up 1-0.

With Barco dominating, the Cards did not score a run until the top of the sixth when the leadoff batter drew a walk before he was bunted all the way to third. A wild pitch on a third strike led to a run-scoring as the batter beat out Planchart's throw to first to tie the game at 1-1.

After Luigi Hernandez held the visitors scoreless in the top of the seventh, Deivis Nadal was called upon to pinch hit for Bradenton to lead off the bottom of the last.

Nadal fell behind 1-2 in the count before hitting a soft liner to dead centerfield that started to bleed in front of the fielder Chase Davis. What happened next was nothing but pure chaos.

Davis took a bad route to the ball and dove several feet short of it; with Nadal's speed, the ball that steadily rolled towards the wall in center grew in its potential to be a game-ending play.

By the time Nadal rounded third, the cutoff man had received the throw from center. He fired it to the dish, but the relay was not in time as Nadal dove in head first to the plate to end the game 2-1 for Bradenton via a walk-off inside the park home run.

Game two was very similar in its start to the first matchup of the night as the Marauders rode the solid starting effort of Wilber Dotel late into the game.

In the second inning, the Marauders rallied to push in a pair of runs with two outs in the inning thanks to RBI knocks from Esmerlyn Valdez and Kalae Harrison to put the home team up 2-0.

The Marauders doubled their advantage when 2023 draftee Charles McAdoo smashed a two-run home run to left to make it 4-0 with four innings to go.

In the fifth and sixth innings, the Cardinals scrapped together two runs to make it a 4-2 game going into the final inning.

Michael Kennedy, making his Single-A debut and Brandan Bidois combined to slam the door on Palm Beach in the ninth inning to seal Bradenton's 4-2 triumph and the doubleheader sweep.

With nine games to go in the regular season, the Marauders sit four games back of Lakeland.

Game three of the series is set for 6:30 on Saturday night for Fan Appreciation Night at LECOM Park.