Muckdogs Battle Back To Send Playoffs To Rubber Match

Batavia (1-1) stormed back from a 8-2 deficit to take down Lowell (1-1) 13-9.  Arquimedes Nieto (1-0) earned himself the win, pitching two and two thirds innings with five hits, one run, one walk and two strikeouts.  Jason Buursma got his first save of the post-season, retiring the last Spinner of the night.  Lowell's Wang-Yi Lin (0-1) blew the save and got the loss in his one inning with three hits, four runs and one walk.

The Muckdogs took the lead early in the bottom of the 1st as they scored two runs.  Colt Sedbrook was hit by a pitch, then Charlie Cutler and Jermine Curtis both singled to plate one.  After Shane Peterson walked to load the bases, Edwin Gomez had a sacrifice fly for the other RBI.  However, the Spinners answered right back with three runs of their own.  Ricardo Burgos doubled, Will Middlebrooks tripled and Kade Keowen and Casey Kelly had back-to-back base hits in the rally.  Keowen came home on a wild pitch for the third run.  They added one more in the 3rd on a walk, stolen base and a single, and another in the 5th in the same fashion.

Lowell scored three more runs in the 6th to make it a 8-2 game. Keowen singled and Kelly and Ryan Dent doubled to score two; Ryan Lavarnway hit a sacrifice fly for the other run.  But it was Batavia's night of winning, as a big six run 6th inning tied things up.  Frederick Parejo and Xavier Scruggs both walked to start the rally.  Both advanced on a wild pitch, enabling Parejo to come home when Sedbrook reached on a fielding error.  RBI singles by Cutler and Peterson continued the onslaught.  Gomez doubled to plate two before coming home himself on a Chris Swauger double.

And the Muckdogs were not done there.  They scored five more runs in the next inning to put the game out of reach.  Sedbrook was hit by a pitch, moved around the bases on a Cutler single and came home on a wild pitch.  Peterson then came up with another RBI single.  Gomez walked to load the bases for Swauger to come up with a bases-clearing double to left.

Cutler was perfect at the plate, going 4-for-4 with a RBI and three runs scored.  Peterson went 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored, and Swauger went 2-for-5 with two doubles and four RBI.  The rubber match to decide who will continue on the playoff quest will be Wednesday at 7:05 at Dwyer Stadium.

*I may not have a write-up for tomorrow's game right away; I'm leaving tomorrow afternoon to go to Pennsylvania to cover the events in Shanksville, PA (the site of the crash of Flight 93) for our campus TV station, and I won't be back until late Thursday.  I'll try to get something done after the game, but I can't promise anything!