AVON, Ohio — The Lake Erie Crushers, presented by Mercy Health, had trouble getting the offense going for game one but hit very well in game two to split the double header with River City. The Crushers lost game one by a score of 11-2 but won game two 8-1.
The Crushers (35-28) are now only a half-game ahead of Schaumburg for first in the East with the results today. While the Rascals (36-28) are now 23-13 at home this season after the double header.
Jake Repavich (4-4) got the loss in game one as he gave up nine runs on five hits, walked three, and struck two out over his 3.1 innings of work. Brian Feldmann (5-1) earned the win for the first game as he threw a complete game, gave up two runs on eight hits, walked one and struck out six.
Lake Erie scored their only two runs of the game in the third inning. Emmanuel Marrero hit an opposite field home run to lead off the inning and at the time put Lake Erie ahead. Zach Racusin followed up the homer with a single for the second hit of the inning off Feldmann. A batter later Dale Burdick flew out to centerfield for the first out. Brody Wofford kept the offense going with a double to put runners at second and third for Steven Kraft. Kraft then hit an RBI sacrifice fly to score Racusin and put Lake Erie ahead 2-0.
Repavich looked solid through his first three innings taking a no hitter into the fourth but that’s when things started to unravel. Trevor Achenbach hit a homer to start the inning and the Rascals’ offense took off from there. Repavich walked the next two batters and then gave up a bases clearing double to Nolan Meadows to give River City the lead 3-2. 14 batters for River City came to the plate in the bottom of the fourth as their offense went on to score six more runs on three hits before the half inning was over. The ninth runs put up in the inning came off the bat of Achenbach when he hit a two-run homer off Repavich for his second home run of the inning.
Augie Gallardo was called in to pitch after the ninth run of the inning scored. On no rest from having to pitch two innings the night before, Gallardo did allow two baserunners but got out of the inning without giving up any runs.
The Crushers offense was shut down for three straight innings after putting up two runs in the third. They threatened to score in the top of the seventh inning with runners on second and third with no outs but could not capitalize.
River City added to their lead in the bottom of the sixth with a two-run single from Andrew Penner to make it an 11-2 River City lead.
Brock Riley started the second game of the twin bill and threw well on short rest. After starting on Wednesday against Gateway where he threw 76 pitches, Riley threw 3.1 innings and gave up no runs, two hits, walked three and struck out two. Kent Hasler (5-2) picked up his fifth win of the season as he threw 3.2 innings where he gave up one run on two hits, walked one and struck out seven. Travis McQueen (3-1) got his first loss of the season today as he gave up seven runs on nine hits, walked three and struck seven out over his outing.
In game two, Lake Erie’s offense came alive. In the top of the second, Dale Burdick hit a double to start the inning. Brody Wofford then drew a walk to put runners on first and second. Steven Kraft stepped in and hit a three-run homer for his second home run of the season to put Lake Erie ahead 3-0.
The Crushers offense added to their lead in the next inning. Racusin started off the inning with a single and then stole second to put himself into scoring position. Burdick then flew out to right for the first out of the inning. A batter later, Wofford hit an RBI double to score Racusin and make it a four-run Lake Erie lead.
In the top of the fifth inning, Racusin picked up his second hit of the night with a lead off single. McQueen then walked Burdick to put a runner in scoring position for the Crushers. Wofford continued to tear the cover off the ball and hit his second RBI double of the game to make it a 5-0 lead. Then Kraft jumped in on the fun and hit a bases clearing single to make it a seven-run lead. With the single, Kraft picked up his fourth and fifth runs batted in of the game.
The final run of the game for the Crushers came in the sixth inning. Emmanuel Marrero hit a one out single and then advanced into scoring position on a groundball hit by Racusin. Racusin’s groundball was hit right at Matt McCourt the shortstop but was hit hard enough to make McCourt mishandle the ball and make an errant throw allowing Racusin to reach on the error. Wofford picked up his third RBI of the game with a single to score Marrero and make it an 8-0 game.
River City’s lone run of the game came in the bottom of the seventh inning. L.J. Kalawaia smashed a one out home run over the 27-foot high fence in right field to break up the shutout. But that would be the only hit given up by Hasler that inning as he shut the door on the final two batters to secure the win.
The Crushers will finish their four-game series with the River City Rascals at CarShield Field on Sunday night. The Crushers will go with lefty Paul Hall Jr. (1-03, 1.86) on the bump. While the Rascals will go with righty Alex Winkleman (6-2, 3.37). The first pitch for game one scheduled for 5:05 PM CST.
The Lake Erie Crushers, the 2009 Frontier League Champions, and 2011 Frontier League Organization of the year, play ball at Sprenger Health Care Stadium, a 5,000 capacity stadium located in Avon, Ohio. The Frontier League is an independent baseball league with 10 teams operating throughout the Midwest. For more information on tickets, promotions and team news, visit the team website at www.LakeErieCrushers.com or call 440-934-3636.
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