Lockhart dices up Express batters in rally attempt
The Mud Hens met with the Express for only the second time in the two clubs’ history Wednesday night in Round Rock, Texas. The two teams kept things tight all-game long, with the Express taking an early lead and the Hens working from behind let. In the end though, it
The Mud Hens met with the Express for only the second time in the two clubs’ history Wednesday night in Round Rock, Texas. The two teams kept things tight all-game long, with the Express taking an early lead and the Hens working from behind let. In the end though, it would be a Round Rock walkoff to get the 5-3 win over Toledo.
The second game of this six-game series began as a pitching duel. Both teams struggled to make contact early as Lockhart and Nolan Hoffman kept the scoreboard clean through the first two innings.
A two-out single in the third from Jahmai Jones would bring an end to Hoffman’s night. Taking his place was Cole Winn, who struggled to find the final out of the inning. Two walks dealt to Hao-Yu Lee and Jace Jung quickly loaded the bases, but an Andrew Navigato strikeout kept things scoreless.
Lockhart continued to cause problems for the Express in the third. He easily picked up two strikeouts, before surrendering a triple to Blaine Crim. From there, Lockhart was able to dial it in and pick up a third strikeout to keep the game knotted.
Lockhart kept that energy in the fourth inning, going one, two, three with two strikeouts. The lefty’s pitching was elusive to Round Rock batters as he cycled through his four-seam, splitter, curveball, and slider. With such a wide array of pitches, Lockhart was completely unpredictable from the stretch.
With no run support, things started to fall apart for Lockhart and the Hens in the bottom of the fifth. Lockhart allowed an Express lead-off batter to reach first base for the first time all night and the bases quickly loaded from there. That queued Toledo Manager Gabe Alvarez to pull his starter and bring out Brendan White.
White would allow two RBI singles that would go on Lockhart’s record, but from there he quickly shut down the Express with a forceout at home and two strikeouts. Lockhart’s final line through four innings included six strikeouts and just two runs allowed on three hits and four walks.
In the sixth, Jung tried to get things going for the Toledo bats with a lead-off triple, but he would be left stranded as Winn picked up three-straight strikeouts.
Despite their struggles all game, the Toledo hitters were able to piece together the beginnings of a rally in the eighth inning. Jung got things started with a lead-off homer off of Hunter Strickland to make it 2-1. From there, a two out walk by Brewer Hicklen and an RBI double off the bat of Ben Gamel tied the game up 2-2.
With a win within reach, the Mud Hens put the ball into the hand of PJ Poulin. Poulin would close out the eighth inning with just seven pitches, going one, two, three.
The Hens’ hopes were high in the top of the ninth as Jones and Lee both picked up base hits, bringing Jung to the plate. The runners, however, would be left stranded as Jung and Navigato went down swinging.
The rally quickly fell apart from there. A fielding error on Jung and a first-base side bunt by Alex De Goti put runners at first and second. A Justin Foscue force out at second then put runners on the corners, but Crim called game with a three-run homer to left field.
The Mud Hens and the Express will face off in the third game of their series on Thursday at 8:05 p.m. Toledo will try to overcome their two-game spell.
Notables:
- Jace Jung (2-4, HR, 3B, RBI, R, BB, 2 K)
- Ben Gamel (3-4, RBI, K)
- Lael Lockhart (4.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 6 K, 0 HR)
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