Lake Erie Crushers News & Game Recaps

How Sweep It Is

Crushers sweep Greys with 6-5 victory on Sunday

Box Link: https://frontierleague.com/sports/bsb/2021-22/boxscores/20220529_7fay.xml

AVON, Ohio — The Lake Erie Crushers finished a three game sweep of the Empire State Greys on Sunday afternoon, as they capped the series with a 6-5 victory at Mercy Health Stadium.

The sweep for the Crushers (8-7) was their first of the season, and puts them back over .500 for the first time in two weeks. The loss for the Greys (0-15) was their third one run loss of the season.

Lake Erie was able to snap a scoreless tie in the bottom of the third inning, as Ermindo Escobar belted his first homer of the season, a solo shot to left, giving Lake Erie a 1-0 lead.

The Crushers added two more in the fifth. Bryant Flete began the inning with a single, and came around to score on Kokko Figueiredo’s RBI triple to center. Figueiredo came home a few moments later on Connor Owings’s sacrifice fly.

Empire State clawed back with their first run of the game in the top of the fifth inning, as Tyler Hill belted a solo homer to left, his second of the season. The homer ended Joseph Sgambelluri’s (3-0) scoreless innings streak at 15.

Lake Erie was able to put two more runs on the board in the bottom of the sixth. Flete began the inning with a single and moved to second after Jared Mang walked. Owings delivered again, brining them both home on a double to center field. The Crushers scored their last run in the seventh when Mang brought Danny Perez home on a sacrifice fly.

Zach West hit Empire State’s second homer of the day to start the seventh inning, before the Greys put together a three run rally in the eighth. Jose Mercado and Liam McArthur hit back-to-back RBI singles for the Greys, and West struck again with a sacrifice fly to score Mercado to bring the Greys within a run (6-5), but that was as close as they would get.

Sgambelluri picked up the victory, allowing a pair of runs on three hits and struck out eight batters over seven innings of work. The eight strikeouts were a season high. Sam Curtis (3) struck out the side in the ninth inning to pick up his second save over the last three games. Johsson Arias (0-2) took the loss after allowing five runs on six hits over five and a third.

Flete and Perez led the Crushers with two hits apiece, while Owings drove in three runs on the afternoon. Figueiredo went 1-for-3 and extended his on base streak to 15 games in the process.

The Crushers are off on Monday, but will begin a six game road trip on Tuesday night. The trip begins with a three game series against the Evansville Otters. The first pitch on Tuesday is scheduled for 7:35 PM.