Harrison Lee got the start for Sullivan, pitching 6 1/3 innings and allowing no earned runs on six hits while recording four strikeouts.
“He’s a very good pitcher, he changes speeds and he was throwing a lot of first-pitch strikes,” said OOB manager Skip Nathanson. “We were swinging from the start because we knew he was on, but we tip our hat to him tonight because he pitched a very good game.”
The Surge also had their struggles in the field throughout the rainy affair, committing a total of four errors on the evening.
“The last two or three games we haven’t been executing,” said Nathanson. “That’s the one thing you can’t do for them so it’s sometimes hard to watch … but we battled back at the end which was good.”
Sullivan would score its first two runs in the first inning thanks to a walked in batter and an RBI single from Adrian Gonzalez. Gevon Jackson would add an RBI double in the fourth to make it 3-0 Sullivan.
The Explorers would extend the lead in the fifth, scoring a run on a throwing error, another on a fielder’s choice play, and one more on an RBI single from Taylor Nichols to bring the score to 6-0.
OOB got on the board in the bottom half of the inning on a passed ball, but Sullivan would retain the momentum by adding two more runs in the sixth on another throwing error and an RBI single from Nick Grady to take the 8-1 lead.
Sullivan continued to add to its lead in the eighth, scoring two runs on another OOB error and an RBI single from Edwin Rolon to make it 10-1.
The Surge cut into the lead in the eighth, scoring two runs on passed balls and another on an RBI double from Jordyn Van Atta to make it 10-4, however the Explorers shut down OOB in the ninth to clinch the victory.
On a night that OOB struggled in the field, Sullivan excelled – which Nathanson believed was a factor in his team’s loss.
“(Sullivan) didn’t make any errors, they didn’t put any guys on base. It’s hard to manufacture runs when you aren’t given any,” said Nathanson.
Kyle Carter took the hill for OOB, pitching five innings and allowing six runs on seven hits with seven strikeouts.
The Surge used three pitchers in relief, one being 2015 fan-favorite Ron Schreurs, who made his season debut with the club after spending the summer in the Baltimore Orioles’ organization.
Scheurs pitched one inning, allowing one hit and collecting three strikeouts.
“Ronnie Schreurs is back to help us, so we got his feet wet tonight and he looked real good,” said Nathanson. “Now that it’s the end of the season and guys are getting worn down a shot in the arm will help and hopefully Ronnie will be that shot in the arm working from the bullpen.”
The Surge have six games remaining in the 11-game homestand, and Nathanson hopes to see better results tonight in Game 3 of the series.
“They need to step it up tomorrow, we’ve lost two games in a row to these guys, so we need to go out there and make some plays, and I’m sure the offense will bounce back.”
— Sports Staff Writer Alex Sponseller can be reached at sports@journaltribune.com or at 282-1535 ext. 323. Follow the Journal Tribune Sports Department on Twitter @ JournalTsports.
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