Ballers drop second in a row to Range Riders
Pair of big innings hurt Ballers in defeat
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 1 |
|
|
5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | X | 13 | 11 | 0 |
By Gareth Kwok
KALISPELL, MT – For a second straight night, a rocky first inning punished the Oakland Ballers who dropped their second in a row to the Glacier Range Riders by a final score of 13-1 on Wednesday night from Glacier Bank Park.
Glacier (11-3) scored five runs in the first inning against Oakland starting right-hander Derek Murphy (L, 0-1) who made his first professional start. The first seven Range Riders reached base including a two-run single from Jake Millan and a three-run homer from Donovan Ratfield to put Glacier ahead 5-0.
Murphy pitched 1.2 innings and allowed five runs on four hits and five walks with three strikeouts before being replaced by Liam Rocha. Rocha struck out four in 2.1 scoreless innings.
Damian Stone singled home the lone run for the Ballers with a two-out RBI infield single in the third.
However, Glacier added seven runs in the fifth to put the game well out of reach. After being activated from the injured list, Matthew Maloney faced five batters but could not record an out as Carson Hornung homered and a sacrifice bunt throwing error brought home two more runs. Ratfield drove in two more with a double to right and a Hornung RBI groundout made it a seven-run frame for the Range Riders.
Glacier starter Jared Engman opened the game with two perfect innings and Aidan Elfering (W, 2-1) threw five innings of one-run ball in long relief with eight strikeouts to earn the win.
The Ballers conclude their three-game road series on Thursday night against the Glacier Range Riders. CJ Blowers is scheduled to start for Oakland against Jonah Giblin for Glacier. First pitch is scheduled for 5:35 p.m from Glacier Bank Park. Fans can tune in beginning at 5:20 pm on the Oakland Ballers YouTube Channel.
