AUBURN - Tuesday's game between the Auburn Doubledays and State College Spikes marked the final time the Spikes would play at Falcon Park during the 2009 regular season, and it seemed that neither team wanted the Spikes to leave.
Chet Susslin / The Citizen
State College shortstop Andy Vasquez reaches for a ground ball single hit by Auburn's Ryan Goins.
State College shortstop Andy Vasquez reaches for a ground ball single hit by Auburn's Ryan Goins.
After a fast start by Auburn, the Doubledays' bullpen had a mostly disappointing outing in their 7-4, 11-inning loss. The bullpen gave up eight of the Spikes' 12 hits.
With three errors, the Doubledays' infield didn't fare a whole lot better in the team's third-straight loss.
Welinton Ramirez got the Doubledays off to a hot start with a two-run single in the third inning, but a Carlos Silva RBI double in the following half inning cut their lead in half.
Matt Wright, who had a solid five-inning start, was still in line for the win after five innings as Auburn still held the slim lead headed into the sixth . But Wright's second win of the season flew out the window in that frame when Jamie Lehman gave up a leadoff David Rubinstein home run - and two more runs after that to give the Spikes a 4-2 advantage. The Doubledays are always dangerous for the big hit, however, and they showed why in the bottom half of the inning when Sean Ochinko hit the first of two solo home runs for the team.
In the seventh, David Slovak pitched the first of three shutdown innings (no hits, no runs and one base runner allowed on an error) to give the Doubledays a fighting chance in a game that didn't seem as close as the final score.
Lance Durham took the first pitch by Ricardo Paulino and drove it over the right-field wall to tie the game. Both teams were unable to score in the final two innings of regulation to send the contest into extra innings for the second time this season.
The Spikes defeated the Doubledays in 10 frames on June 27 at Falcon Park.
Alan Knotts earned his third win of the season after striking out the side in the bottom of the ninth and getting out of a seemingly insurmountable situation in the 10th, when Eric Eiland crushed a leadoff double down the left-field line.
After Ryan Goins (2-for-5) grounded out to Knotts, the Spikes' pitcher intentionally walked Ramirez and Ochinko, both of whom went 1-for-4, to get to Chris Hopkins, who was in for Yan Gomes at the designated hitter spot.
The speedy Hopkins struck out looking with the bases loaded and that disappointing at-bat was followed up with Brad Glenn, who also struck out, this time swinging to give the Spikes all the momentum they would need.
A Kevin Nolan fielding error at second base with two outs and one runner on was only the start of a crushing 11th inning for Auburn. Justin Byler (2-for-6) and Rubinstein (3-for-5, two RBIs) belted consecutive doubles to score three runs off Steve Turnbull (1-2) and seemingly, seal the win.
Turnbull pitched a strong 10th frame, with two leadoff strikeouts, but giving up back-to-back extra-base hits led to manager Dennis Holmberg pulling him in favor of Willy Mendez, who finished the 11th inning.
The magic was gone by then for the Doubledays' offense, as the bottom three in the lineup made three quick outs to conclude the 3-hour, 23-minute game.
After a losing effort in a game that lasted more than three hours on Monday night, the Doubledays (15-24) didn't look exhausted on Tuesday, but Mahoning Valley will try to capitalize on consecutive heartbreaking losses when the first-place Scrappers (23-16) come to town today for a short, two-game series.
With three errors, the Doubledays' infield didn't fare a whole lot better in the team's third-straight loss.
Welinton Ramirez got the Doubledays off to a hot start with a two-run single in the third inning, but a Carlos Silva RBI double in the following half inning cut their lead in half.
Matt Wright, who had a solid five-inning start, was still in line for the win after five innings as Auburn still held the slim lead headed into the sixth . But Wright's second win of the season flew out the window in that frame when Jamie Lehman gave up a leadoff David Rubinstein home run - and two more runs after that to give the Spikes a 4-2 advantage. The Doubledays are always dangerous for the big hit, however, and they showed why in the bottom half of the inning when Sean Ochinko hit the first of two solo home runs for the team.
In the seventh, David Slovak pitched the first of three shutdown innings (no hits, no runs and one base runner allowed on an error) to give the Doubledays a fighting chance in a game that didn't seem as close as the final score.
Lance Durham took the first pitch by Ricardo Paulino and drove it over the right-field wall to tie the game. Both teams were unable to score in the final two innings of regulation to send the contest into extra innings for the second time this season.
The Spikes defeated the Doubledays in 10 frames on June 27 at Falcon Park.
Alan Knotts earned his third win of the season after striking out the side in the bottom of the ninth and getting out of a seemingly insurmountable situation in the 10th, when Eric Eiland crushed a leadoff double down the left-field line.
After Ryan Goins (2-for-5) grounded out to Knotts, the Spikes' pitcher intentionally walked Ramirez and Ochinko, both of whom went 1-for-4, to get to Chris Hopkins, who was in for Yan Gomes at the designated hitter spot.
The speedy Hopkins struck out looking with the bases loaded and that disappointing at-bat was followed up with Brad Glenn, who also struck out, this time swinging to give the Spikes all the momentum they would need.
A Kevin Nolan fielding error at second base with two outs and one runner on was only the start of a crushing 11th inning for Auburn. Justin Byler (2-for-6) and Rubinstein (3-for-5, two RBIs) belted consecutive doubles to score three runs off Steve Turnbull (1-2) and seemingly, seal the win.
Turnbull pitched a strong 10th frame, with two leadoff strikeouts, but giving up back-to-back extra-base hits led to manager Dennis Holmberg pulling him in favor of Willy Mendez, who finished the 11th inning.
The magic was gone by then for the Doubledays' offense, as the bottom three in the lineup made three quick outs to conclude the 3-hour, 23-minute game.
After a losing effort in a game that lasted more than three hours on Monday night, the Doubledays (15-24) didn't look exhausted on Tuesday, but Mahoning Valley will try to capitalize on consecutive heartbreaking losses when the first-place Scrappers (23-16) come to town today for a short, two-game series.
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