Charleston, WV - Armond Upshaw and Cole Freeman extended their on-base streaks to 11 games as the Suns were held to three hits in a 5-2 loss to the West Virginia Power on Tuesday night at Appalachian Power Park. The Suns fall to 24-35 in the second half and 51-76
Charleston, WV - Armond Upshaw and Cole Freeman extended their on-base streaks to 11 games as the Suns were held to three hits in a 5-2 loss to the West Virginia Power on Tuesday night at Appalachian Power Park. The Suns fall to 24-35 in the second half and 51-76 overall with the third game of the four-game series set for a 7:05 PM first pitch on Wednesday.
The Power took a first inning lead, scoring a pair of runs against Suns starter Jackson Stoeckinger. With one out, Connor Kaiser singled to left and went to second when Cal Mitchell singled to right. Deon Stafford walked to load the bases, and with two outs, Robbie Glendinning singled to left to score both Kaiser and Mitchell to give the Power a 2-0 lead.
Hagerstown tied the game in the top of the third against Power southpaw Oddy Nunez who made his fourth start of the season. Phil Caulfield led off with a triple to right and scored when Paul Panaccione grounded out to short to cut West Virginia's lead to one. With two outs, Upshaw walked and scored from first when Freeman doubled to left, tying the game at 2-2.
The Power took a one-run lead in the sixth, chasing Stoeckinger from the game. Stafford led off with a solo home run to right-center field. The backstop's 11th long ball of the season gave the Power a 3-2 edge while Stoeckinger got Raul Hernandez to ground out for the first out of the inning. Carlos Pena entered the game in relief and, after allowing a leadoff walk, struck out Jesse Medrano while Alex Flores caught Glendinning stealing to complete the double play and end the inning with Hagerstown trailing by a run.
West Virginia added to their lead against Pena in the seventh inning. With one out, Lolo Sanchez and Travis Swaggerty both walked with Sanchez moving to third on a wild pitch. Kaiser flew out to right for the second out of the frame, but Mitchell singled to left to plate both runners and give the Power a 5-2 advantage. The Power held the Suns to one hit over the final six innings of play and went on to win 5-2.
Stoeckinger (7-6) tossed five and one-third innings while allowing three runs on four hits with two walks and five strikeouts in a loss. Pena spun one and two-thirds innings in relief while allowing two runs on a hit with three walks and two strikeouts. Jared Brasher threw the eighth while allowing a hit with a strikeout.
Notes: Upshaw has an 11-game on base streak… His 10-game hit streak was snapped… All three of Caulfield's hits in the series are extra-base hits… Freeman extended his hit streak to four games… He collected his 30th double of the season… That ties him for fourth in the SAL… Freeman also has an on-base streak of 11 games… Hagerstown was 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position… West Virginia won the season series by picking up their eighth win against the Suns with two games left to play… Hagerstown is 4-16 in games decided by three runs… Tuesday was the team's 41st loss on the road in 2018… It was the seventh time in August the Suns have been held to two runs… Hagerstown is 2-4 on their current road trip… The Suns continue their four-game set with West Virginia on with a 7:05 PM first pitch on Wednesday… The Suns will send LHP Tim Cate (0-2, 9.00 ERA) to the mound against Power RHP Sergio Cubilete (4-5, 5.63 ERA)… The broadcast can be heard, starting with the pregame show at 6:55 PM on www.hagerstownsuns.com by going to multimedia tab and clicking on "Listen Live"... The broadcast is also available on the Hagerstown Suns Radio Network in the Tune-In Radio and MiLB First Pitch apps.
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