Lakewood Tops Delmarva, 5-4

Lakewood, NJ - The Delmarva Shorebirds dropped the series opener to the Lakewood BlueClaws, 5-4 on Thursday night. Delmarva (49-42) moved the tying run to third base in both the seventh and eighth innings, but they failed to deliver the game-changing play.

Jon Prosinski steamrolled through the Shorebirds lineup in the early innings. The Lakewood starter retired the first 11 batters he faced. Prosinski finally slipped up in the fourth inning. After a single by Drew Dosch, Prosinski committed a balk to move the runner into scoring position. Malquin Canelo then threw the ball away, allowing Dosch to score on the error. Next, Chance Sisco extended his hitting streak to 11 games with an RBI single up the middle.

Lakewood tied the game at two runs apiece with an immediate response. With two outs, Mitch Walding punched an RBI double to score Willians Astudillo.

The BlueClaws jumped in front in the sixth inning. The first three batters all singled to run Nick Cunningham out of the game. Larry Greene, Jr. roped a two-run double to take back the lead for Lakewood. Malquin Canelo lifted a sacrifice fly to make it 5-2 for the BlueClaws.

Delmarva fought back on a couple occasions, but fell short. The Shorebirds scored two runs on a sacrifice fly by Josh Hart, and an RBI single for Jeff Kemp. With runners on the corners and one out, Matt Hockenberry escaped with a strikeout and flyout. In the eighth, Delmarva had the tying run on third base with one out, but the leadoff double by Austin Wynns went by the wayside.

Ulises Joaquin closed out the game, recording his eighth save with a scoreless ninth inning. Jon Prosinski took the win for Lakewood, while Nick Cunningham settled for the defeat.

The Shorebirds and BlueClaws continue their series with game two on Friday. Right-hander Luc Rennie (3-7, 6.08) will start for Delmarva against right-hander Yacksel Rios (3-0, 3.11) for Lakewood. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 pm at FirstEnergy Park.