The Doubledays found themselves in the thick of yet another pitchers duel to start of Saturday night’s contest against the Batavia Muckdogs. There was a combined two hits as starters Reid Schaller and Humberto Mejia exchanged zeros on the scoreboard over the game’s first five innings. Schaller’s Doubledays, however, ended up on top.
Big hits and heads up baserunning allowed the Doubledays to run away with a speedy 4-2 win over Batavia.
Schaller was filthy over his five innings of one-hit ball. His dominance on the mound was a spectacle to see, especially after being rocked for five runs over 2.2 innings his last time out against State College.
The top of the sixth ended ended on a defensive gem by right fielder Justin Connell after Auburn’s D kicked things off on a sour note. A routine 6-3 putout ended with a runner on second base after Jose Sanchez could not field the liner hit by Gunnar Schubert. With second base unoccupied and the ball kicked to short right-center, Schubert hustled around first and slid into second unscathed.
But while Schubert displayed his great speed on that heads up play, he wasn’t quite fast enough for the arm of Connell. Schubert overestimated the depth of the flyball out hit by Davis Bradshaw and was thrown out at home by a healthy amount to end the inning.
Auburn’s bats heated up with two singles in the home half with the Muckdogs’ energy all but gone after the demoralizing putout. Then, with two outs, Israel Pineda – batting .207/.281/.241 in the month of August – connected on a 0-1 pitch down the heart of the plate for a home run over the left field wall. His three RBI on his bomb were his first runs batted in since August 9 and his first multi-RBI game since July 15.
The Doubledays tacked on another run in the seventh with some heads up baserunning of their own. Jamori Blash unconventionally went first to home after Nic Perkins split the gap with a single. The throw from the right fielder ended up near second base, but with nobody paying attention to the six-foot-four, 225 pound Blash rounding third base, Auburn’s first baseman slid in safe at home to give the Doubledays a 4-0 lead.
The Muckdogs did managed to make things interesting in the ninth inning with a leadoff bunt single by Ricardo Cespedes. Cespedes ended up at third after a subsequent walk by Sean Reynolds and sacrifice fly, and Reynolds found himself at second base thanks to a passed ball.
Batavia put their first run of the game up with an RBI groundout the next at-bat, and Sanchez’s second error of the night gave them their second. But Carson Teel worked his way out of the jam and secured Auburn’s 4-2 win.
🎧 HIGHLIGHTS 🎧
🔥 Reid Schaller mowed down the last 13 Muckdogs he faced
🐻 Aaron Barrett dealt two innings for the first time this season
🐗 Israel Pineda's tater was the differencehttps://t.co/1AHskMD42j— Auburn Doubledays (@Doubledays) August 19, 2018
The Doubledays will be back in action Sunday at 2 PM to wrap of their series against the Muckdogs. General admission tickets will be only $1.
