The Franklin Reporter & Advocate Eight Villages, One Community
Bridgewater, NJ – The Sugar Land Skeeters (19-14) held off a late rally to defeat the Somerset Patriots (20-13) 5-3 at TD Bank Ballpark on Wednesday evening.
The Skeeters took a 1-0 lead on a wild pitch in the third inning by Patriots starting pitcher Matt Bywater.
Sugar Land made it 2-0 in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly by Beamer Weems.
The Skeeters scored again in the fifth inning on Kent Matthes RBI base hit.
Somerset got on the board in bottom of the fifth on an RBI single by Trayvon Robinson.
Matthes struck again in the seventh with a two-run home run (4) to centerfield for his third RBI of the game and a 5-1 lead.
Carlos Guzman answered for Somerset with a solo shot (3) in the bottom of the frame to cut the lead to 5-2.
“We always find a way to come back and make the games close. That’s nothing new for us,” said Guzman. “We are just falling a little short right now. The same way you win 13 in a row, you can lose those games too. It’s part of the game. I’m more than confident that we can turn this around soon because we are close.”
Mycal Jones also added an RBI single in the eighth inning for what would be the 5-3 final.
Aaron Thompson (1-0) picked up the win, allowing a run on four hits in five innings pitched. Bywater (0-2) struck out four, but allowed a run on three hits in 2.2 innings pitched. Andrew Johnston earned his first save of the season.
The 2016 Somerset Patriots season presented by Ford continues at TD Bank Ballpark on Thursday afternoon with an 11:05 am game against the Sugar Land Skeeters. For tickets, call 908-252-0700 or visit www.somersetpatriots.com. Download our Mobile App for free in the Apple or Android App store.
