BRADENTON, Fla. (August 12, 2017) - David Rodríguez flared a two out single into right field Saturday night to complete the Charlotte Stone Crabs' 5-4 comeback win over the Bradenton Marauders at LECOM Park. The Stone Crabs (57-58, 26-21) erased two deficits in the win, breaking a 4-4 tie in
BRADENTON, Fla. (August 12, 2017) - David Rodríguez flared a two out single into right field Saturday night to complete the Charlotte Stone Crabs' 5-4 comeback win over the Bradenton Marauders at LECOM Park.
The Stone Crabs (57-58, 26-21) erased two deficits in the win, breaking a 4-4 tie in the top of the ninth. Nate Lowe started the frame with a single to left against Bradenton (62-53, 25-23) reliever Geoff Hartlieb (1-4). With Peter Maris pinch running for Lowe, Riley Unroe bunted Maris to second. With two outs, Rodriguez delivered the big hit to give Charlotte their first lead of the game at 5-4.
Reece Karalus then escaped a two-on, one out jam in the bottom of the ninth to earn his third save of the season. Travis Ott (6-1) worked 2.1 scoreless innings of relief to get the win.
In a scoreless game in the bottom of the first, Casey Hughston struck out but reached first on passed ball. Ke'Bryan Hayes followed with a single to move Hughston to third. Will Craig then grounded out to third, scoring Hughston to give Bradenton a 1-0 lead. Two batters later, Kevin Krause drove home Hayes on an infield single to make it 2-0.
Still leading by that count in the third, Hughston drove a solo homer to left to give the Marauders a 3-0 lead.
Down by three in the top of the fourth, Stone Crabs shortstop Lucius Fox reached first on a fielding error to begin the inning. After Kevin Kiermaier replaced him on a fielder's choice, David Olmedo-Barrera walked to put runners at first and second. Ryan Boldt followed by lining a single to center to score Kiermaier and make the score 3-1. The next batter was Michael Brosseau , who connected on a single to right to plate Olmedo-Barrera and bring the deficit to one. With runners at the corners and two outs, Lowe bounced out to second, tying the game at three.
After Bradenton took the lead back in the bottom of the inning, Boldt launched a solo home run in the top of the sixth to tie up the contest at four.
The Stone Crabs will go for the series sweep of the Marauders on Sunday at 1 p.m. Matt Andriese (MLB Rehab) makes the start for Charlotte against James Marvel (0-0, 0.00) of Bradenton. Coverage begins at 12:45 p.m. on the Stone Crabs Baseball Network.
