Morgantown, W.V. – For the fourth time this season, the Williamsport Crosscutters watched their opposition celebrate a win in their last bats, tonight a 3-2 loss at West Virginia.
Williamsport got off to a familiar start, mounting a threat in the top of the 2nd inning, loading the bases against West Virginia starter Zack Spears. Lenin Rodriguez popped out in foul territory to end the Cutters threat and leave the bases loaded.
The luck changed for the Cutters in the top of the 3rd, as the first three batters of the inning reached base to load the bases for the second straight inning. Ben Pelletier came through, scoring Jonathan Guzman with a RBI groundout to give Williamsport a 1-0 lead and give Pelletier his team-leading 11th RBI.
Danny Mayer followed with a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Rafael Marchan to up the Crosscutters advantage to 2-0. For Mayer it was his 6th run batted in on the season.
West Virginia got on the board against Ethan Lindow in the bottom of the 3rd inning, getting back-to-back doubles fromRobbie Glendinning and Travis Swaggerty to cut the deficit to 2-1. Lindow was able to strand Swaggerty at 3rd base to keep the lead.
Keudy Bocio reached safely on a bunt single with one out in the 4th inning, but the Cutters were unable to find away to score Bocio, leaving him at 2nd base. The bunt single was the last hit recorded by the Crosscutters on the night.
Ethan Lindow worked into the top of the 6th inning, retiring the first batter of the inning. The first time he has retired a batter in the 6th inning of a start this season.
Lindow allowed back-to-back singles to Brett Kinneman and Edison Lantigua before the Crosscutters made a call to the bullpen, relieving Lindow after 5.1 innings of work.
Austin Ross entered with the tying run on 2nd base and one out in the frame, hitting Connor Kaiser to load the bases and then hitting Michael Gretler to plate Kinneman to tie the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the 6th.
Ross was able to get out of the inning without allowing the go-ahead run to score. Lindow’s bok closed allowing two runs on eight hits over 5.1 innings, without walking a batter and striking out five.
Williamsport’s offense struggled to get anything going after the 4th inning, getting a base runner in the top of the 6th inning when Matt Kroon drew a walk, only to be retired on a double play. The Cutters got a base runner after Rafael Marchan was hit by a pitch, but was retired on a groundball off the bat of Alec Bohm, ending the inning.
Abdallah Aris worked a scoreless 8th inning of relief, and came out for the bottom of the 9th inning, retiring then first batter that he faced. Aris found himself in a bit of trouble, allowing a single to Daniel Amarla, followed by back-to-back walks to Luke Mangieri and Brett Kinneman to load the bases.
Aris cam up with a huge strikeout, getting Edison Lantigua chased a payoff pitch out of the zone for the second out of the inning, and ending the night for Aris.
Luis Ramirez entered from the bullpen to face the right-handed hitting Connor Kaiser. Ramirez walked Kaiser on a 3-1 offering, forcing home Amaral to give the Black Bears a 3-2 walk-off win, taking the first two games of the series.
The Crosscutters conclude their series against the Black Bears tomorrow evening at Monongalia County Ballpark. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.
Cutter Carvings – Matt Kroon drew three walks in the loss, the most by a Cutter in a single game this season… Williamsport is now 5-4 when leading after the 5th inning and 0-4 when tied after 8 innings… The Cutters are 2-7 on the road this season…
