Lakewood, NJ-Nick Raquet set a career-high with eight strikeouts and Luis Garcia had three hits in game two of a double header on Thursday night at FirstEnergy Park. The Hagerstown Suns were swept by the Lakewood BlueClaws with a 4-3 score in the first game and 5-3 in the second.
Lakewood, NJ-Nick Raquet set a career-high with eight strikeouts and Luis Garcia had three hits in game two of a double header on Thursday night at FirstEnergy Park. The Hagerstown Suns were swept by the Lakewood BlueClaws with a 4-3 score in the first game and 5-3 in the second. The Suns fall to 16-29 overall and will start a five-game series against the Greensboro Grasshoppers on Friday with a 7:05 PM first pitch.
Lakewood got to Suns starter Jackson Stoeckinger in the first inning to take an early lead. With two outs Jhailyn Ortiz singled to left and Quincy Nieporte singled to right on a high-fly ball to move Ortiz to third. Colby Fitch singled to center, scoring Ortiz to make it 1-0 while Nieporte moved to third. Nick Maton singled to right, driving in Nieporte to give Lakewood a 2-0 lead.
Jake Scudder helped the Suns to a one-run lead in the fifth against BlueClaws starter Will Stewart. Aldrem Corredor lined a one-out double to right and Jeyner Baez reached on an error. Jake Scudder launched a 415-foot homer over the center field wall to clear the bases and give Hagerstown a 3-2 advantage.
The Suns lead didn't last long, with Jake Scheiner tying the game against Stoeckinger in the fifth. Scheiner blasted his seventh homer of the season to lead off the fifth and make it a 3-3 ballgame. The homer was Scheiner's second in two days, after leading off Wednesday night's game with a solo shot.
In the seventh, the BlueClaws walked off to win game one. Kevin Markham led off the inning with a singled to center and Schiener bunted to move Markham into scoring position. Daniel Brito singled to right-center, scoring Markham to end the first game of the double header by a final score of 4-3.
Stoeckinger tossed 5.0 innings while allowing three runs on nine hits with a walk and three strikeouts. A.J. Bogucki (1-1) took the loss, throwing 1.1 innings while allowing the winning run on two hits with a strikeout.
Hagerstown scored the first run of game two in the opening frame against Luis Carrasco. Garcia led off the game with a single and went to second when Yasel Antuna walked. Corredor grounded into a double play that moved Garcia to third, and Anderson Franco singled to center. Garcia scored to give the Suns a 1-0 lead.
Lakewood tied the game in the bottom of the inning against Suns starter Nick Raquet. Dalton Guthrie reached on a throwing error by Antuna at short and Jhailyn Ortiz doubled to right, moving Guthrie to third. Nieporte grounded out to short, but Guthrie scored to tie the game at 1-1.
The BlueClaws plated two more runs in the second against Raquet with one out. Yahir Gurrola singled to left and Josh Stephen did the same to put runners at the corners. Scheiner doubled to left, clearing the bases and giving Lakewood a 3-1 advantage. They tacked on another run in the third with Maton singling to right and Rodolfo Duran driving him in with a double to make it 4-1.
Hagerstown came within two runs against Lakewood reliever Randy Alcantara in the fifth. Armond Upshaw led off with a single to left and in the next at-bat Garcia hammered his second home run of the season to right field to make it a 3-2 game. Garcia's homer traveled 350 feet, smacking the railing above the wall for a home run.
Raquet (3-5) threw 6.0 innings in a loss while allowing five runs (three earned) on nine hits with a walk and eight strikeouts.
Notes: Five of Stoeckinger's eight starts have been five or more innings… After not allowing a walk in his first five starts, Stoeckinger has allowed one in each of his last three.. Scudder's homer in game one was also his first hit against a left-handed pitcher this season… Raquet's eight strikeouts is a career-high… He also tied Jackson Tetreault and Stoeckinger for most strikeouts in a game by a Suns pitcher this season… He pitched the first complete game of the season for the Suns… Flores hit his second single of the season and has the second most on the team… Garcia had his 10th multi-hit game of the season… Four of those games are three-hit efforts… He also had his fifth multi-RBI game of the year… The Suns begin a five-game series at Historic Municipal Stadium against the Greensboro Grasshoppers on Friday with a 7:05 PM first pitch… There will be post-game fireworks… Hagerstown will send RHP Tomas Alastre (1-2, 6.21 ERA) to the hill while the Grasshoppers will counter with RHP Edward Cabrera (1-3, 4.09 ERA)… The broadcast can be heard, starting with the pregame show at 6:50 PM on www.hagerstownsuns.com by going to multimedia and "Listen Live" which also has downloads for a free app on the iPhone, iPad, Blackberry, and Android... The broadcast is also available on the Hagerstown Suns Radio Network in the Tune-In Radio App.
