Wilmington Bats Collapse Alongside Susana's Ten Strikeout Performance; Lose 2-0

The Wilmington Blue Rocks finish the game 0-11 with runners in scoring position as the Aberdeen IronBirds took game five of the series 2-0 on Saturday, August 31.

With Jarlin Susana and his 100+mph fastball on the mound for Wilmington, the IronBirds struggled to catch up early, frequently making weak contact. Both singles in the top of the first inning stayed in the infield.

Onix Vega threw out Aron Estrada trying to steal third, and Susana struck out two, ending the frame without too much pressure.

Gavin Dugas broke the ice with the Blue Rock’s first hit of the day in the bottom of the second, a two-out line drive single over shortstop Leandro Arias’ head.

Aberdeen struck first in the third inning. Jalen Vasquez led off the inning with a double, stole third and scored on an error by Gavin Dugas to take the 1-0 lead. Vega had Estrada’s number on steal attempts, throwing him out for the second time trying to swipe second base.

The fourth inning looked to be more trouble for Susana, as a walk and a single to start the inning had two men on and none out. Susana then struck out the next three batters in a row to work out of the jam.

The Blue Rocks had a good chance to score in the bottom of the fourth. Onix Vega walked and advanced to third on a single from Maxwell Romero Jr. Aberdeen’s starter Zach Fruit was able to work out of the inning stranding the go-ahead run on base.

Susana consistently struck out IronBirds batters at the rate of two strikeouts per inning, but Aberdeen was able to make weak contact, and find gaps with bloop hits and infield singles. In the fifth, a hit batsman and two more singles allowed the IronBirds to cross again, pushing the lead to 2-0.

Susana ended his day after five innings in line for the loss, allowing seven hits, two earned runs, one walk, and an astounding 10 strikeouts.

Vega hit a double in the sixth and advanced to third on a wild pitch with one out. Again, Wilmington was unable to secure runs out of the opportunity, leaving another solid chance to cut the deficit on the bases.

Chance Huff relieved Susana in the sixth and fought his way out of a double and a walk to leave the frame scoreless.

Huff departed after two innings of scoreless work, allowing two hits, while walking one and striking one out. The bats for Wilmington continued to fall short as the eighth inning rolled around, stranding Gavin Dugas in scoring position after a double in the seventh.

The pitching was great for both sides, as the score through seven remained where it was when the starters left. Austin Amaral replaced Huff and kept the IronBirds in check in the eighth thanks to Vega throwing out another runner.

Cooper McKeehan struck out the side for Aberdeen in the seventh, but in the eighth he couldn’t find the zone, walking the first three batters of the inning, loading the bases for Wilmington with no one out.

After the walks, McKeehan was pulled and Yaqui Rivera entered the contest. Rivera struck out three straight batters to get out of the inning without a run and put the IronBirds in the drivers seat to win the game.

Wilmington ended the game 0-11 with runners in scoring position and struck out for seven of those outs.

With the win, Aberdeen closes the gap in the series to 3-2 in Wilmington’s favor, with the final game of the series coming up tomorrow.