Stone Crabs finish winning season in Bradenton

BRADENTON, Fla. (September 3, 2017) - The Charlotte Stone Crabs finished their fifth winning season in nine years Sunday, dropping their season finale 4-2 at LECOM Park in Bradenton.
Their 38 second half wins is tied for the most in franchise history. Manager Michael Johns completes his third year at the helm with his second winning campaign. Charlotte finished with a 69-66 overall record, owning a 38-29 record in the second half.
In a scoreless game in the top of the second Sunday, David Olmedo-Barrera singled to center before advancing to second on a groundout. Riley Unroe followed by smacking a double to the left field wall to give Charlotte a 1-0 lead.
Still up by that margin in the bottom of the third, Stone Crabs starter Eduar Lopez (9-9) walked a pair of Marauders before allowing a Ke'Bryan Hayes RBI single to right to tie the game at one.
With the game tied at one in the top of the fifth, Nate Lowe doubled down the left field line before Unroe bunted him to third. Jonah Heim then flew a ball to deep right to score Lowe and give the Stone Crabs a 2-1 advantage.
In the bottom of the inning, Lopez and reliever Fernando Baez combined to walk five Marauders while allowing one hit, giving Bradenton a 4-2 lead.
Lopez worked 4.1 innings Sunday, finishing the season with 143.2 innings pitched. That total places fifth in Stone Crabs' single-season history.
Bradenton starter Logan Sendelbach (5-6) went five inning to earn the win, allowing three hits while striking out four.