Patriots Suffer First Loss Of Season With 6-4 Defeat

Bridgewater, NJ- The Somerset Patriots record-breaking streak to start the season ended at 13 as the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs won 6-4 at TD Bank Ballpark on Wednesday evening.

“In baseball you’re taught to win a series and that’s supposed to be good enough. You’re not expected to sweep or win ten in a row. I actually like to go after each game individually, and if you get the first two, let’s get the third one. I think that’s how we’ve come out and tried to do things,” said manager Brett Jodie.

The Patriots took an early 2-0 lead in the second inning. Carlos Guzman drew a walk and Mycal Jones followed with a single. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch to move to second and third. Scott Kelly then laced a run-scoring single to left field. Jones later came home to score on a bunt by Darwin Perez.

Somerset extended the lead to 3-0 in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Rob Kral.

The Blue Crabs cut the lead to one with two runs of their own in the ensuing inning on a two-run single by Steve Lombardozzi.

Patriots starter Jeremy Horst finished his night allowing two runs on eight hits in 5.2 innings pitched in a no-decision.

“The first three innings I was fortunate enough to get a couple double plays to get out of some trouble. At the end there, I felt that I let my emotions get to me a little bit. I tried to rush things instead of slowing the game down, maintaining my pitch locations, and staying on top of stuff. Those guys did a great job tonight,” said Horst.

Matt Fields answered in the bottom of the fifth inning, launching a solo home run (2) to left that made the score 4-2

The Blue Crabs then rallied to take their first lead of the game with three runs in the seventh inning. A base hit by Lombardozzi gave him his third RBI of the game. Darby Myers followed with an RBI triple and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Zach Wilson for a 5-4 lead.

Southern Maryland got an insurance run in the eighth on a solo home run by Fred Lewis (3) for the 6-4 final.

Reliever Jeff Urlaub (1-0) picked up the win with two scoreless innings pitched. Arik Sikula (0-1) suffered the loss, allowing three earned runs on three hits in an inning pitched. Cody Eppley earned his first save of the season with a perfect ninth inning pitched.

“The feeling I get is that everybody here is trying to show what they can do on a baseball field, which makes guys stand out. Everybody is playing around each other and that definitely helps. Everybody is controlling what they can control and we understand each other. This early in the season we all have a good feeling about what each of us can do out there,” Horst added.

The 2016 Somerset Patriots Season presented by Ford continues with a 7:05 pm game against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs on Thursday at TD Bank Ballpark. For tickets visit www.somersetpatriots.com.

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