It took a while to get going, but when they did, the Doubledays’ bats did not disappoint. Auburn (19-30) defeated the Spikes (25-25) in a wild game that was decided in the late innings of the game.
Doubledays starter Tyler Dyson began his night on a hot note by striking out four Spikes over his first two scoreless innings. He ran into trouble in the third, however, as a sloppy throw by third baseman Jake Alu put Brylie Ware on board at first. He induced a shallow fly out but was the victim of an RBI ground-rule double to give the Spikes their first run of the ballgame.
He gave up one more in the third inning on a leadoff home run and was pulled with two outs after failing to retire Ware. Amos Willingham entered the game, however, and promptly struck out Shane Benes on an 0-2 breaking ball.
Though Willingham did allow a run the next inning, that was the extent of an otherwise solid performance on the night. The Georgia native went 3.1 strong, allowing three hits while striking out a pair.
After it took the Doubledays 8.2 innings to record their first hit on Sunday, Caldioli Sanfler made sure that Auburn didn’t have any more close calls by notching a two-out single in the first. The Doubledays managed to connect for three hits and work two walks against Spikes starter Junior Gonzalez but couldn’t push anything across until the seventh inning against Jacob Schlesener.
A one-out walk from J.T. Arruda started the Doubledays rally, getting to third on an Albert Carrillo double and then jogged home when Spikes right fielder indecisively decided to throw to third base rather than home. Carrillo reached third on a flyout, then sprinted his way home on a passed ball.
The Doubledays kept the pressure on Schlesener with back-to-back singles in the eighth that pushed him out of the ballgame. New pitcher Eric Lex struck out Jeremy Ydens but allowed both his inherited runners to score on a single from Arruda to give Auburn its first lead of the night, 4-3.
Jordan Bocko – in his second inning of work – retired the side to not only give the Doubledays their first win in five days, but also record his first win of the season.
LISTEN: Late heroics from J.T. Arruda give Auburn a 4-3 win over State College, snapping a five-game skid! @jack_mcmullen11 and @JDRaucci bring you the highlights. https://t.co/y3cOx4qUGD
— Auburn Doubledays (@Doubledays) August 6, 2019
The Doubledays will be back in action Tuesday at 7 PM for game 2 against the Spikes. Listen in on the action on FingerLakes1.com Radio.
By Chris Valentino Tril
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