AUBURN - In five hours of baseball, the numbers pile up. Two errors, 19 runs on 33 hits combined in 14 innings for starters.
Glenn Gaston / Special to The Citizen
Auburn shortstop Steve Condotta waits for the throw as Oneonta's Kyle Peter steals second in the first game of a doubleheader at Falcon Park Wednesday night.
Auburn shortstop Steve Condotta waits for the throw as Oneonta's Kyle Peter steals second in the first game of a doubleheader at Falcon Park Wednesday night.
But for the Auburn Doubledays on Wednesday, the only numbers that mattered were two and zero. As in the number of games played against Oneonta at Falcon Park due to a rainout on Tuesday and the amount of wins that they came away with.
The first seven-inning contest saw the Tigers jump out to an early lead in a 5-3 win. The second though, that was a tougher pill for the Doubledays to swallow. Auburn appeared to own the win until the top of the seventh, when the Tigers scored five runs to take a 6-5 lead and when the Doubledays failed to score in the bottom of the inning, Oneonta came away with a sweep.
“It's frustrating, disappointing,” Doubledays manager Dennis Holmberg said. “We were one pitch away four different times (in the top of the seventh), with two strikes and ground balls. We should have made those plays.”
With a lead seemingly bigger than 5-1, Auburn pitchers Ryan Bird and Patrick McGuigan, both in just their third appearances of the season, couldn't hold on to the lead. Bird allowed two hits and a Wes Stone fielding error at second loaded the bases for McGuigan, who needed to produce one out to finish. Kody Kaiser brought in the first run on a single, before Chris Carlson belted a three-run double down the left-field line to tie it. Cory singled in Carlson for the go-ahead run before a run-down play ended the inning. McGuigan got his first loss and blown save, of the year.
In the bottom of the seventh, Adam Calderone drew a leadoff walk and Manny Rodriguez reached on a fielding error by Tigers shortstop Jorge Pitino before Rudy Darrow was relieved after just a third of an inning. Noah Krol got his 11th save of the season when Baron Frost flew out to Pitino and CJ Ebarb lined out to Justin Henry at second.
Chris Homer, of Jamesville, got his first win as a Tiger after two innings. Homer was the second of five Tigers pitchers to throw in the second game after a tough start for Paul Nardozzi. The righty, from Victor, gave up three Doubledays solo home runs in the first inning after Auburn gathered just three hits in the first game.
Outfielders Adam Calderone and Victor Santana belted their seventh and sixth homers of the season, respectively, to left in consecutive at-bats before Frost came up with the third of the inning, and the game, to left. It was Frost's second homer, both coming in the second game in a doubleheader at home. Calderone's blast tied him for the team lead, with Rodriguez.
“We got off to a great start with those home runs,” Holmberg said. “It was amazing and a nice way to start after the first game.”
Fellow outfielder Ben Zeskind added an RBI single in the second to score Stone and a double that scored Kelly Sweppenhiser in the fourth. Henry scored Patino on an RBI triple in the third to put the Tigers on the board. Joe Wice fanned three and scattered six hits for the Doubledays in his first start since July 22, 2006. His solid outing was backed up by some good defensive play, including double plays in the second and fourth innings.
In the first game, Kyle Walter got his fifth loss in 10 starts. He lasted just two innings, giving up three hits, three walks and three earned runs. Sean Finefrock evened his record to 3-3 for the Tigers with a spectacular outing of 6 1/3 innings with less than 90 pitches. Finefrock was perfect the first three innings and didn't allow a hit until JP Arencibia's double in the fifth. Consecutive RBIs from Frost and Zeskind in the inning put the Doubledays on the board and within two runs of a tie, but that was before the seventh. Mike Sullivan added an insurance run on a sac fly to center. With one out, Shawn Scobee belted an RBI double that brought in Darin Mastroianni before Jose Fragaso fanned Ebarb and Zeskind consecutively to end Auburn's rally.
“It's tough, but doubleheaders are tough to begin with,” Zeskind said. “All it takes in a seven-inning game is one tough inning and that tough inning for us happened to be the last one (of the second game). It's just one of those difficult things where we have to come out tomorrow and try to get a win.”
The Tigers and the Doubledays finish their only series of the season today at Falcon Park.
Tigers 5-6
Doubledays 3-5
The first seven-inning contest saw the Tigers jump out to an early lead in a 5-3 win. The second though, that was a tougher pill for the Doubledays to swallow. Auburn appeared to own the win until the top of the seventh, when the Tigers scored five runs to take a 6-5 lead and when the Doubledays failed to score in the bottom of the inning, Oneonta came away with a sweep.
“It's frustrating, disappointing,” Doubledays manager Dennis Holmberg said. “We were one pitch away four different times (in the top of the seventh), with two strikes and ground balls. We should have made those plays.”
With a lead seemingly bigger than 5-1, Auburn pitchers Ryan Bird and Patrick McGuigan, both in just their third appearances of the season, couldn't hold on to the lead. Bird allowed two hits and a Wes Stone fielding error at second loaded the bases for McGuigan, who needed to produce one out to finish. Kody Kaiser brought in the first run on a single, before Chris Carlson belted a three-run double down the left-field line to tie it. Cory singled in Carlson for the go-ahead run before a run-down play ended the inning. McGuigan got his first loss and blown save, of the year.
In the bottom of the seventh, Adam Calderone drew a leadoff walk and Manny Rodriguez reached on a fielding error by Tigers shortstop Jorge Pitino before Rudy Darrow was relieved after just a third of an inning. Noah Krol got his 11th save of the season when Baron Frost flew out to Pitino and CJ Ebarb lined out to Justin Henry at second.
Chris Homer, of Jamesville, got his first win as a Tiger after two innings. Homer was the second of five Tigers pitchers to throw in the second game after a tough start for Paul Nardozzi. The righty, from Victor, gave up three Doubledays solo home runs in the first inning after Auburn gathered just three hits in the first game.
Outfielders Adam Calderone and Victor Santana belted their seventh and sixth homers of the season, respectively, to left in consecutive at-bats before Frost came up with the third of the inning, and the game, to left. It was Frost's second homer, both coming in the second game in a doubleheader at home. Calderone's blast tied him for the team lead, with Rodriguez.
“We got off to a great start with those home runs,” Holmberg said. “It was amazing and a nice way to start after the first game.”
Fellow outfielder Ben Zeskind added an RBI single in the second to score Stone and a double that scored Kelly Sweppenhiser in the fourth. Henry scored Patino on an RBI triple in the third to put the Tigers on the board. Joe Wice fanned three and scattered six hits for the Doubledays in his first start since July 22, 2006. His solid outing was backed up by some good defensive play, including double plays in the second and fourth innings.
In the first game, Kyle Walter got his fifth loss in 10 starts. He lasted just two innings, giving up three hits, three walks and three earned runs. Sean Finefrock evened his record to 3-3 for the Tigers with a spectacular outing of 6 1/3 innings with less than 90 pitches. Finefrock was perfect the first three innings and didn't allow a hit until JP Arencibia's double in the fifth. Consecutive RBIs from Frost and Zeskind in the inning put the Doubledays on the board and within two runs of a tie, but that was before the seventh. Mike Sullivan added an insurance run on a sac fly to center. With one out, Shawn Scobee belted an RBI double that brought in Darin Mastroianni before Jose Fragaso fanned Ebarb and Zeskind consecutively to end Auburn's rally.
“It's tough, but doubleheaders are tough to begin with,” Zeskind said. “All it takes in a seven-inning game is one tough inning and that tough inning for us happened to be the last one (of the second game). It's just one of those difficult things where we have to come out tomorrow and try to get a win.”
The Tigers and the Doubledays finish their only series of the season today at Falcon Park.
Tigers 5-6
Doubledays 3-5
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