Mud Hens slug three homers in win

*Allentown, PA - *The Toledo Mud Hens began the series against the Lehigh Valley IronPigs in Pennsylvania and won game one 8-7 in a Tuesday night slugfest.

Starting the game for Lehigh Valley was Bailey Falter. Falter came into the game with a 4.32 ERA and a 2-0 record on the season. * Parker Meadows* and Justy-Henry Malloy greeted Falter hitting back-to-back home runs to start the series and grab a 2-0 lead in the top of the first for the Hens.

Jack O'Loughlin started the game on the bump for the Mud Hens. O'Loughlin entered the game with a 3.86 ERA and 1-1 record. O'Loughlin allowed a leadoff walk in the bottom of the first inning but ended the inning by striking out the next batter.

In the second inning, Donny leadoff the inning with a walk. Michael Papierski added to the Mud Hens' home run total, slugging a two-run home run over the left field walks to make it 4-0 Mud Hens. Corey Joyce then hit a single that marked the end of Falter's day. Jesus Cruz entered the game for the IronPigs and finished the inning without allowing another run to score.

O'Loughlin allowed a leadoff double for the IronPigs but got a double to play to whip the baserunner off the board. O'Loughlin then ended the inning on a strikeout for his second of the day.

In the third inning, both teams went down in order but Jack O'Loughlin was untouchable, striking out the side in order and recording four consecutive strikeouts dating back to the second inning.

In the top of the fourth inning, the Mud Hens continued to look sharp. Andre Lipcius lead off the inning with a double to put himself in scoring position. Later in the inning, Joe Rizzo sliced a single up the middle to score Lipcius and make it 5-0 Mud Hens. With runners on first and second with two outs, the IronPigs turned to Jeremy Walker out of the bullpen to escape the jam. Walker walked the first batter he faced to load the bases but was able to get out of the inning with the bases loaded.

The Mud Hens were kept off the board in the fifth inning, but the IronPigs finally broke out offensively scoring their first runs of the game. Weston Wilson leadoff the inning with a triple, then Christan Pashe hit him in with a single up the middle. Later in the inning with runners on first and second with two outs, Jim Haley singled to score a run, then Jake Cave singled to score two runs to cap off a four-run fifth inning and make it a 5-4 Mud Hens lead.

Taylor Lehman came to pitch the sixth inning for the IronPigs. Though the Mud Hens were able to put runners on the corners, the IronPigs got out of the inning unscathed to keep it a one-run ball game.

*Beau Brieske *pitched the bottom of the sixth. Brieske worked around a one-out walk and got out of the inning without giving up a run preserving the Mud Hens one-run lead.

In the top of the seventh inning, Tyler Nevin smoked a double to leadoff, then Nick Solak followed up with a double of his own to score Nevin and make it 6-4. Later in the inning, Michael Paperski singled up the middle to score Solak and make it 7-4 Mud Hens lead.

Matt Wisler pitched the bottom of the seventh inning for the Mud Hens. Wisler retired the side in order to take a three-run lead into the eighth inning.

In the eighth inning, Matt Wisler got into some trouble. With runners on the corners with two outs and the tying run at the plate, Christan Pashe hit a game-tying three-run home run to tie the game at seven into the ninth inning.

Andre Lipcius singled to lead off the ninth inning and was able to advance to second on an error. Donny Sands hit a groundball that allowed Lipcius to get to third with one out. Once again for the Mud Hens Joe Rizzo would come in clutch in the ninth inning, singling to center and scoring Lipcius to grab the lead at 8-7.

Sam Clay came into pitch in the ninth inning for the Mud Hens to try to record a save. Clay shut the door on the IronPigs in the ninth inning, striking out two of the three batters he faced to secure the save and 8-7 win over the IronPigs.

Notables:

Parker Meadows: 2-5, R, RBI, BB, HR

Justyn-Henry Malloy: 1-5, R, RBI, HR

Michael Paperski: 2-4, R, 3 RBI, BB, HR

Joe Rizzo: 2-4, 2 RBI, BB

Sam Clay: 1 IP, 2 K (S,1)