Bees Sting Catfish in Extra Innings, 2-1
Burlington, IA, June 25 – It took 11 innings and more than five hours before the Cape Catfish and Burlington Bees could break the string of zeros on the scoreboard Saturday night.
Cape broke the scoreless tie in the top of the 11th with a sacrifice fly without the benefit of a hit when leadoff batter Jackson Jarvis, a recent addition to the Catfish roster from Columbia State Community College, struck out swinging on a wild pitch allowing him to reach first. He made it to second and then third thanks to two more wild pitches and then scored the first run of the game on a sacrifice fly to deep right field off the bat of Kolten Poorman (Three Rivers Community College).
All Cape needed in the bottom of the 11th was to keep the Bees off the scoreboard, but their leadoff batter, Spencer Nivens from Missouri State University, crushed his first home run of the season way beyond the right field wall to tie the game.
Nivens’ home run came off West Virginia State University’s Dante Zamudio, who started in left field for the Catfish, but was brought in to pitch in the 9th. Zamudio gave up a single to the Bees’ next batter, Oscar Ponce from the University of Texas at Arlington. Ponce advanced to second when Ryan Grace (Quinnipiac University) was hit by a pitch and then scored the winning run on a single to left field by Kevin Santiago (Texas Wesleyan University).
The final score was Bees 2, Catfish 1. The loss dropped Cape’s record to 8-15 while Burlington’s improved to 9-14.
The loss was Zamudio’s second of the season in six mound appearances. Although he didn’t factor in the decision, Burlington starter Jared Townsend, a redshirt freshman from Iowa Western Community College, allowed just two Catfish hits while striking out five and walking six in his five innings of work. Burlington’s C..J. Lewis (University of Toledo) threw six innings of relief and was credited with the win despite giving up Cape’s only run of the night.
Cape starter Griffin Lohman (Purdue University) was replaced in the second inning by Eli Brown (Lindenwood University) following a one-hour, 45-minute rain delay. Brown allowed just one hit in his 6 1/3 innings of relief while striking out seven Bees.
Cape ended the game with five hits and two errors. Burlington managed six hits while committing no errors.
The Catfish travel to Quincy, Illinois, Sunday for a double header against the Quincy Gems. The first game is scheduled for a 4:05 p.m. start.