| | | Star photo by Anita Briggs
Oneonta Tigers third baseman Ronnie Bourquin is late with a first-inning tag as Nathan Southard of the State College Spikes successfully steals third base during the first game of Sunday’s New York-Penn League doubleheader at Damaschke Field. |
|
|
>ONEONTA — Yogi Berra would have been proud of the Oneonta Tigers on Sunday.
That’s because the first game of their New York-Penn League doubleheader against the State College Spikes certainly wasn’t over until it was over.
The Tigers rallied from a six-run deficit to win the first of two scheduled seven-inning games, 7-6, in eight innings. State College earned the split in front of 506 fans at Damaschke Field, though, with a 5-2 victory in the second game.
[an error occurred while processing this directive]Brennan Boesch capped an improbable comeback in the opener, blooping a single into shallow left field to score Deik Scram from second with two out in the bottom of the eighth.
Scram started a two-out rally with a single to right-center, and Scott Sizemore singled over shortstop Jose Salazar to put runners at first and second.
The three started a seventh-inning rally as well, leading off the bottom frame with three straight singles as Oneonta tried to claw out of a 6-3 hole.
Boesch singled down the left-field line to plate Scram, cutting the deficit to 6-4. James Skelton followed with a one-out single to right-center, plating Sizemore and Boesch to tie it at 6. Brandon Timm grounded into a 5-4-3 double play to end the seventh and force an extra inning.
The Spikes jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI double by left fielder Nathan Southard, who later scored on a groundout by Matt Wilkerson.
State College (16-16) scored four times in the fifth. Catcher Steve Gonzalez reached on an error to start the inning and scored on a double by Southard. Designated hitter Allen Craig then hit a three-run homer to left for a 6-0 lead.
The O-Tigers, held to two hits by starter Matt Lane through five innings, cut the deficit in half in the sixth with three runs off the Spikes’ bullpen.
Catcher James Skelton had an RBI single to left and designated hitter Jeff Kunkel hit a two-run double down the right-field line to make it 6-3.
Tim Robertson earned his first pitching win of the season, improving to 1-2.
"Consistency and control, especially the fastball," said Robertson, who allowed two hits and struck out two in three scoreless innings of relief. "Locate the fastball, and the offspeed has great effect."
In the second game, State College scored three times in the third inning for a 3-0 lead. Southard had a two-run double and scored what proved to be the decisive run on an attempted double-steal. Southard easily stole third, then took home as the late throw by catcher Jordan Newton bounced into left field.
Oneonta made it 3-2 with runs in the third and fourth innings, on RBI singles by Boesch and shortstop Joe Tucker, respectively. The Spikes put scored the final runs on a two-run homer by Craig in the fifth.
O-TIGERS 7, SPIKES 6 (8)
First Game
STATE COL. (15-16) ONEONTA (19-12)
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Rapoport cf 4 2 2 0 Scram cf 5 2 2 0
Southard lf 3 2 2 2 Sizemore ss 5 1 2 0
Craig dh 3 1 1 3 Boesch rf 5 1 2 2
Hamilton 1b 4 0 0 1 Bourquin 3b 4 1 2 0
Wilkerson rf 4 0 0 0 Strieby 1b 2 1 0 0
Sivira rf 0 0 0 0 Tucker 1-pr 0 0 1 0
Schweitzer 2b 4 0 2 0 Reyes 1b 0 0 0 0
Solano 3b 4 0 1 0 Skelton c 4 1 0 3
Gonzalez c 4 1 1 0 Timm lf 4 0 3 0
Sandoval 1-pr 0 0 0 0 Kunkel dh 3 0 0 2
Carpenter c 0 0 0 0 Ott 2b 4 0 1 0
Salazar ss 2 0 0 0
Totals 32 6 9 6 Totals 32 7 12 7
State College Spikes 200 040 00 — 6
Oneonta Tigers 000 003 31 — 7
E — Solano, Lane, Scram, Thornton, Bourquin 2. 2B — Southard 2, Schweitzer, Kunkel. HR — Craig. LOB — SC 5, Oneonta 9. DP — SC 1, Oneonta 0. S — Salazar. SB — Solano. CS — Schweitzer, Sandoval.
State College IP H R ER BB SO
Lane 5 2 0 0 1 4
Schroeder 2-3 3 3 3 0 0
Mura 1-3 0 0 0 0 0
Walters L,0-1 1 2-3 7 4 4 1 2
Oneonta IP H R ER BB SO
Thornton 5 7 6 4 1 0
Robertson W,2-1 3 2 0 0 0 2
HBP — Strieby (by Schroeder); Craig (by Robertson).
T — 2:16.
SPIKES 5, O-TIGERS 2
Second Game
STATE COL (16-16) ONEONTA (19-13)
ab r h bi ab r h bi
Sandoval ss 3 0 0 0 Scram cf 4 1 1 0
Southard lf 4 2 2 2 Sizemore 2b 4 0 1 0
Craig 3b 4 1 1 2 Boesch rf 3 0 3 1
Van Slyke 1b 2 0 0 0 Bourquin 3b 4 0 0 0
Wilkerson rf 3 0 1 0 Strieby 1b 3 0 0 0
Rapoport cf 0 0 0 0 Newton c 2 1 0 0
Sivira cf,rf 2 0 0 0 Skelton dh 2 0 1 0
Thomas c 3 0 1 0 Timm lf 3 0 1 0
Carpenter dh 2 1 0 0 Tucker ss 3 0 1 1
Schwietzr 2b 31 1 0
Totals 26 5 6 4 Totals 28 2 8 2
State College Spikes 003 020 0 — 5
Oneonta Tigers 001 100 0 — 2
E — Newton, Sizemore, Daley, Sadlowski, Van Slyke. 2B — Sizemore, Wilkerson, Southard. 3B — Thomas. HR — Craig. LOB — SC 4, Oneonta 8 10. DP — SC 1, Oneonta 0. S — Sandoval. SB — Scram, Van Slyke, Southard. CS — Sizemore, Sirvira.
State College IP H R ER BB SO
Daley (W,4-2) 5 6 2 2 3 3
Sadlowski 1 1 0 0 0 0
Motte (S,4) 1 1 0 0 0 1
Oneonta IP H R ER BB SO
Piccola 4 2-3 5 5 4 2 4
Fein 1-3 0 0 0 0 1
Gagnier 2 1 0 0 0 2
HBP — Van Slyke (by Piccola).
T — 2:06. A — 506.
