Williamsport, PA — Jhailyn Ortiz had missed the prior six games, but his four RBI performance powered the Crosscutters to a 8-2 win over the Doubledays Tuesday night.
Spencer Howard entered the night looking to feed off of his longest start of the season, which came against the Auburn Doubledays his last time out. Howard picked up where he left off, working around a pair of walks and striking out the side in the top of the 1st.
Howard continued to dominate the Doubledays line up striking out a career-high 10 batters over 4.2 innings of work before Auburn was able to get to the starter out of Cal Poly in the top of the 5th.
After striking out the first two in the frame, Howard allowed a walk to Nick Choruby, who was promptly scored on a two-out double off the wall in right by Austin Guibor to give the Doubledays a 1-0 lead.
Damon Jones was able to get the final out of the 5th inning, keeping the game at a 1-0 Auburn advantage.
Auburn starter Nick Raquet held the Crosscutters scoreless through the first five innings, setting the Cutters down in order in the 4th and 5th innings before Williamsport was able to get on the board in the 6th.
Jake Scheiner led off the 6th with a double to left-center to give the Cutters a runner in scoring position. Jhailyn Ortiz recorded his first RBI of the night with a RBI single up the middle to tie the game at 1-1.
After a single from Greg Pickett, Yahir Gurrola singled to left field to chase home Ortiz and give the Crosscutters their first lead of the night at 2-1. It was Gurrola’s 7th RBI of the season.
Malvin Matos grounded into an inning-ending double play to end the Cutters threat of a larger inning in the 6thagainst Raquet.
Juan Pascal led off the top of the 7th with a double down the right field line, nearly thrown out by a strong throw from Ortiz. Austin Guibor picked up his 2nd RBI of the night, plating Pascal with a RBI ground out to 1st base, tying the game at 2-2.
Damon Jones was able to get out of the 7th with the score standing at 2-2.
Nick Raquet was relieved in the bottom of the 7th inning by David Smith, but the Crosscutters were looking to take advantage of the call to the bullpen, and that they did.
Rodolfo Duran led off the inning with a base knock, which was followed by a well executed hit and run as Brian Mims singled to right field moving Duran to 3rd base. With Jesus Azuaje at the plate, Smith uncorked a wild pitch allowing Duran to score, giving the Cutters a 3-2 lead.
Jake Scheiner then plated Mims with a single to left, giving the Cutters a 4-2 lead and giving Scheiner his 15th RBI of the year.
Josh Stephen followed the Scheiner single with a single of his own, putting a pair of runners on, Jhailyn Ortiz sent a high line drive towards the wall in left, clipping off the top of the wall before bouncing over and hitting the BB&T Ballpark sign for a three-run home run to give the Cutters a 7-2 lead.
The home run was the 8th of the season for the slugging right fielder, who pushed his RBI count to a even 30 on the season, which currently leads the club.
After Damon Jones worked a scoreless top of the 8th, Jake Scheiner flared an RBI single to center field, scoring Brian Mims to add on to the Cutters lead, which now stood at 8-2. It was Scheiner’s 16th RBI of the season.
Jhon Nunez tossed a scoreless 9th inning as the Crosscutters earned their 20th win at BB&T Ballpark in 2017.
The Crosscutters conclude their season series with the Doubledays tomorrow evening, with first pitch scheduled for 7:05 p.m. At BB&T Ballpark.
Cutter Carvings – The Crosscutters tied a season-high with 16 hits… Crosscutters Pitching was one strikeout away from tying a season-high, striking out 15 batters… It was the most runs scored by the Crosscutters since scoring 9 against the Doubledays on August 17th… The home run was Ortiz’s first since July 24th, when he homered against the Doubledays at home… It was Ortiz’s second three-hit game in his last six games played… Scheiner’s four hit night was the first of his career and his first game with three or more hits since July 22nd at Batavia… Howard joins Kyle Young,Julian Garcia and David Parkinson as the only Cutters with 10 or more strikeouts in a single start…
