The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
Bridgewater, NJ – The Long Island Ducks (15-9, 55-39) defeated the Somerset Patriots (12-14, 50-46) 3-2 at TD Bank Ballpark on Wednesday evening.
The tying run was thrown out at the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning to end the game and allow Long Island to hold on to the win.
The Ducks jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning on an RBI single by Delta Cleary Jr. and a two-run double by Ruben Gotay.
The Patriots made it a one-run ballgame with two runs in the fifth inning. Luis Mateo led off the frame with a solo home run (1). A sacrifice fly later in the inning by Eric Farris scored Scott Kelly to make the score 3-2.
D.J. Mitchell (3-3) picked up the win, allowing two earned runs on four hits in five innings pitched. Randy Boone (0-1) suffered the loss, allowing three earned runs on four hits in five innings pitched. Todd Coffey earned his 19th save of the season with a scoreless ninth inning.
Patriots reliever Nik Turley came in relief and struck out eight straight batters of the nine he faced over three perfect innings.
“He has good life on the fastball and a couple good breaking pitches that he can throw for strikes and that are strikeout pitches,” said Somerset Patriots manager Brett Jodie. “He really keeps hitters off balance, which you saw with the eight strikeouts in a row. That is about as dominant as I think he could be and he’s really throwing the ball well.”
The 2016 Somerset Patriots season presented by Ford will continue at home on Thursday with an 11:05 am game against the Long Island Ducks. For tickets, call 908-252-0700 or visit www.somersetpatriots.com. Download our Mobile App for free in the Apple or Android App store.
