Three Crushers combine to toss a one hitter in 3-0 victory
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AVON, Ohio — The pitching combination of Ryan Feierabend, Aaron Glickstein and J.T. Perez combined to toss a one hit shutout for the Lake Erie Crushers on Sunday afternoon at Mercy Health Stadium, as the Crushers defeated the Evansville Otters, 3-0.
The victory for the Crushers (31-34) was their first in six games against the Otters (41-24) this season, while the loss for Evansville brings an end to a six game road trip where they went 3-3. It also marked Lake Erie’s third shutout victory of the season.
Feierabend (6-3) turned in his finest start of the year for the Crushers. The 35-year old lefty was terrific all game long, retiring the first 12 batters he faced before allowing a lead off single to Riley Krane in the top of the fifth inning. That single was the only hit allowed by Feierabend as he retired every other batter he faced. He tossed seven scoreless innings and struck out eight batters to score the win.
Lake Erie got on the board in the bottom of the second inning. Bryan DeLaRosa belted a one out single and came around to score two batters later on Zack Gray’s RBI double to left.
The Crushers added two huge insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. Shawon Dunston Jr. started the inning with a bunt base hit before stealing second base, and he came around to score on Trevor Achenbach’s two run homer to left, his 12th of the season to give Lake Erie a 3-0 lead.
The Otters made things interesting in the top of the ninth inning. They scored 10 runs in the ninth inning over the first two games of the series, and they brought the tying run to the plate on Sunday afternoon. J.T. Perez (9) walked Michael Gangwish to start the inning, retired the next two batters and then walked Gary Mattis. Perez then outlasted Elijah MacNamee in an eight pitch battle, which resulted in a fly out to right field to end the game.
Aaron Glickstein held the lead for the Crushers, tossing a perfect eighth inning in relief while Perez picked up the save with a scoreless ninth. Ryan O’Reilly (3-2) took the hard luck loss, allowing just a run on six hits and struck out six over seven innings.
Three Crushers hit safely multiple times. Achenbach, DeLaRosa and Connor Oliver each went 2-for-4 on the afternoon. Oliver extended his hitting streak to seven games in the process. DeLaRosa has now reached in 10 consecutive games, and Isaac Benard walked in his final plate appearance to extend his on base streak to nine games.
The Crushers are off on Monday but will begin a three game series against the Washington Wild Things at Mercy Health Stadium on Tuesday night. Lefty Paul Hall Jr. (2-5, 5.15) will get the start for the Crushers. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM.