Streak snapped at seven
Lake Erie’s seven game winning streak snapped in 5-0 loss
AVON, Ohio — The Lake Erie Crushers, presented by Mercy Health, saw their season long, seven game winning streak come to an end on Sunday afternoon at Sprenger Healthcare Stadium, as they fell to the Washington Wild Things, 5-0.
Despite the loss, the Crushers (32-25) posted a 9-3 record in the season series against Washington, and still hold a two game lead in first place in the Frontier League’s Eastern Division. The win for the Wild Things (25-35) snapped a brief three game slide.
Washington right hander Nick Gallagher (1-0) shut the Crushers down in his second professional start. Lake Erie’s offense was limited to just four hits on the afternoon, and were never able to get a runner past second base.
The game was scoreless through four innings, until the Wild Things went deep to snap the scoreless tie in the top of the fifth inning. Blake Adams, who had four hits in the contest, belted a solo homer over the wall in left to give the Wild Things a 1-0 advantage.
Washington pulled away with three more runs in the top of the sixth inning. Alex Murphy began the inning with a double before Cameron Baranek was hit by a pitch. Brett Marr’s sacrifice bunt moved them to second and third and Ryan Cox drove them home with a double down the line in left. Adams followed with a run scoring single to left, giving Washington a 4-0 lead.
Murphy struck again for the Wild Things in the top of the eighth inning. He led off the inning with his first homer of the season, sending it over the wall in left to plate the final run of the contest.
Gallagher picked up the win for Washington, tossing six shutout innings of two hit ball and struck out five batters along the way. Jake Repavich (4-3) took the loss, after surrendering four runs on seven hits over 5.1 innings of work. Evy Ruibal tossed 1.2 innings of scoreless relief, and Dalton Geekie fanned three batters to work a scoreless ninth.
Jake Vieth led the way for Lake Erie offensively, going 2-for-3 with a double, and has now hit safely in five straight games and reached safely in eight straight. Steven Kraft walked in the fifth inning to extend his on base streak to 14 games, while Dale Burdick was hit by a pitch to extend his streak to eight games.
The Crushers are off on Monday, but will begin a three game series with the Gateway Grizzlies on Tuesday night. The first pitch is scheduled for 8:05 PM.
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