Lake Erie Crushers News & Game Recaps

Sunday Split

Lake Erie splits double header with Ottawa

AVON, Ohio — The Lake Erie Crushers split their double header with the Ottawa Titans on Sunday afternoon at Mercy Health Stadium as they took game one, 3-2 and dropped the finale, 3-1.

The split for the Crushers (23-31) marks their second double header split of the season, while the Titans (27-27) won the series, marking their second series win in as my tries against the Crushers over the last two years.

Game One

Runs were very difficult to come by, as the pitching was terrific for both teams. Ottawa jumped on the board first in the top of the fourth inning. They had runners on first and second with two outs when AJ Wright smacked a two run double to the gap in left center field to snap a scoreless tie.

Lake Erie squandered a few chances to score early in the contest, until they put something together in the sixth inning. They had the bases loaded with two outs, when Josh Rego sent a two run single into right field to score Kenen Irizarry and Sam Frontino to tie the game at 2-2.

In the bottom of the seventh, Jarrod Watkins put an end to the contest with a walk off homer to right. It was his first of the season and it was Lake Erie’s first walk off homerun of the year as well. It was also Lake Erie’s third win in their final at bat.

Angelo Baez (4-4) pitched extremely well, tossing Lake Erie’s first complete game of the year. He allowed a pair of runs on six hits and fanned four batters over seven innings to pick up the win. Erasmo Pinales (1-1) took the loss after allowing the solo homer to Watkins.

Game Two

Quite like the first contest, pitching took center stage again. Crusher right-hander Matt Mulhearn (3-4) and Ottawa lefty Grant Larson (5-6) kept the bats at bay for the first three innings, until the Titans broke a scoreless tie in the fourth.

Jamey Smart started the fourth inning with a single and he came around to score moments later when Taylor Wright smashed a two run homer to right, his sixth of the season. They used the long ball one last time to extended their lead in the top of the fifth inning, when Broc Mortensen stroked a towering, 409-foot solo homer to right, his first of the season.

Lake Erie had many chances to score, but could only push one across in the bottom of the fifth inning. John Tuccillo belted a double down the line in left and touched home a few moments later when Sam Frontino sent a RBI single back up the middle to get the Crushers on the board, but that was their lone run of the contest.

Larson picked up the win after allowing just a run on six hits over 5.1 innings of work. Trevor Clifton (4) scored his second save of the series after tossing a perfect seventh inning in relief. Mulhearn suffered the loss after surrendering three runs on six knocks through 4.2 innings of work.

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