Lake Erie Crushers News & Game Recaps

Lake Erie downed in 10 innings by Equipe Quebec

Box Link: http://pointstreak.com/baseball/boxscoretext.html?gameid=550405

AVON, Ohio — The Lake Erie Crushers erased a five run deficit at Mercy Health Stadium on Thursday night, but eventually fell in 10 innings to Equipe Quebec, 10-8.

For the Crushers (12-14) the loss marked their first series loss dating back to June 3, while the win for Quebec (13-13) was their second straight following a four game losing streak.

The Crushers were down 6-1 after the top of the third inning but battled back, eventually tying the game with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, before Equipe Quebec scored three in the tenth inning to pull away.

Lake Erie fired the first shot in the bottom of the first inning, as Steven Kraft belted the fifth pitch of the at bat over the wall in left field for his first homer of the season to give the Crushers a 1-0 lead.

Quebec responded with a long ball of their own to take the lead just a half inning later. Ruben Castro started the inning with a single and Gift Ngoepe, who hit a Grand Slam in the first inning last night, hit his second homer of the season, a two-run shot over the wall in left to give Quebec a 2-1 lead.

Equipe Quebec then sent nine batters to the plate and scored four times on four hits in the top of the third to take a 6-1 advantage. David Glaude drove in the first run of the inning on a single to center and Jesse Hodges followed with a two-run double down the line in left. Jack Barrie brought Hodges home later in the inning on a double to left.

The Crushers answered with a trio of runs in the bottom of the third. Kraft started the inning with a single to left. Isaac Benard then roped a double down the line in right, and Trevor Achenbach followed with a RBI single to center. Brody Wofford brought Benard home on a sac fly RBI and Bryan DeLaRosa brought the final run of the inning home on a RBI base hit to right, narrowing the deficit to two (6-4).

Quebec wasted no time responding, as they plated a run in the next half inning. L.P. Pelletier started inning with a double to center and came around to score on Jeffry Parra’s RBI single to right, which was enough to knock Lake Erie’s starting pitcher Paul Hall Jr. out of the game.

The Crushers would claw back within two (7-5) in the bottom of the fifth inning. Achenbach smacked a one out double to left field and came home on Wofford’s RBI base hit to center.

Lake Erie inched closer in the bottom of the sixth inning. Connor Oliver started the inning with a triple to left and came around to score on Karl Ellison’s RBI single to left field.

The Crushers tied it with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. Benard reached on a one out single and stole second base, a wild pitch put him on third and he scored with two outs on a RBI single to center off the bat of DeLaRosa.

Quebec plated a trio of runs in the tenth inning to pull away. Nick Horvath drove in the first run on a RBI single to center, before Pelletier drove the next run home on a sacrifice fly and Glaude walked with the bases loaded to plate the final run of the inning.

Andrew Case (1-0) picked up the victory for Quebec, despite allowing a run on two hits in his one inning of relief and Stephen Knapp (1) picked up the save. Daniel Kight (0-1) suffered the loss after allowing three runs on three hits over two innings of relief. The three runs surrendered were the only runs the Crusher bullpen surrendered over 15 2/3 innings of action in the series.

Benard led the Crushers offensively, going 3-for-5 on the night and has now hit safely in seven straight games. Kraft and Achenbach both turned in multi-hit games as well, as they both hit safely twice. Oliver extended his on base streak to seven games, while Ellison’s single in the sixth inning extended his hitting streak to five games.

The Crushers hit the road on Friday night, to take on the Windy City Thunderbolts at Ozinga Field in Crestwood, Illinois. The first pitch is scheduled for 8:05 PM.