Patriots Clinch Series With 4-3 Win Over Blasters
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Bridgewater, NJ- The Somerset Patriots (7-4) defeated the New Jersey Blasters (4-7) 4-3 at TD Bank Ballpark on Thursday night to clinch the SOMERSET Professional Baseball Series. The team will receive the Joe Torre Championship Trophy presented by RWJBarnabas Health before the game on Saturday night.
Tied at 3-3 in the bottom of the sixth inning, Scott Kelly reached on a triple and scored on an RBI infield single by Justin Pacchioli that would ultimately be the game-winning hit.
The Patriots struck early with a run in the bottom of the first inning. After Pacchioli tripled, Dan Valerio brought him home with an RBI groundout.
Somerset added two runs on an error in the fourth inning for a 3-0 advantage.
The Blasters got on the board with their first run on a bases loaded wild pitch in the top of the fifth inning that made the score 3-1.
Zach Lipshitz’s two-out, two-strike, two-run triple in the next inning knotted the game up at 3-3.
Nate Roe (3-0) earned the win after he allowed two runs on two hits and two strikeouts in two innings pitched. He got the team out of a no-out bases loaded jam in his first inning. Sean Keselica (0-2) suffered the loss with a run on a hit in an inning of work. James Pugliese pitched a perfect seventh inning with two strikeouts for his fifth save of the series.
The SOMERSET Professional Baseball Series presented by Ford will continue on Friday, August 21st with a 7:05 pm game between the Somerset Patriots and the New Jersey Blasters at TD Bank Ballpark. Friday’s game will be presented by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, the Official Health Insurance Provider of the Somerset Patriots. For more information, please visit www.somersetpatriots.com.