Cutters break even with Spikes

From CDT staff reports

WILLIAMSPORT — State College has enjoyed much pitching success at Bowman Field this season, no more than Thursday’s four-hitter against Williamsport which helped the Spikes improve to 4-1 on the season at the historical ballpark.

The Crosscutters (40-34) returned the favor on Friday night, however, holding State College to a season-low two hits, to win the final SawBuck Series game of the year 4-1 and snapping the Spikes’ three-game win streak. 

Crosscutters starter Nick Hernandez (8-1) pulled into a second-place tie with State College’s Tyler Cox, Lowell’s Jose Alvarez and Brooklyn’s Collin McHugh with his eighth New York-Penn League victory, as the Spikes’ only hits were a pair of lead-off doubles from David Rubinstein and Justin Byler in the second and fourth innings, respectively.

Victor Black (1-2) took the loss after giving up two runs on two hits, striking out three in three innings of work as State College dropped to 37-37 on the season with two games remaining.

Williamsport built a 4-0 lead after five, breaking open a scoreless game with two runs in the third. Ryan Gugel walked and reached second on Black’s wild pitch to put things in motion for the Crosscutters before Jiwan James reached on a fielding error by shortstop Brock Holt. With runners on the corners and no outs, Gugel successfully stole home for his first steal of the season and James later scored on Darin Ruf’s two-out single to right.

Leandro Castro and Ruf delivered consecutive two-out doubles in the fifth against Cox, who had a rough outing in relief. Cox then hit Williamsport’s Adam Buschni with a pitch to put runners on the corners before his second wild pitch of the frame allowed Ruf to score and the Crosscutters extended their lead to 4-0.

Hernandez and reliever Chad Poe combined to retire 12 straight Spikes in the middle innings before State College managed to scrape out a run in the eighth without recording a hit. The error bug bit the Crosscutters as Elevys Gonzalez reached first on a Poe fielding error while Stephen Batts misplayed Craig Parry’s liner to left field to put Spikes on second and third with one out. Gonzalez scored on Holt’s groundout as Poe retired State College in order over the final two frames to earn his first save of the season.

Williamsport, which evened this season’s series at 6-6 with the win, also tied the all-time SawBuck Series record at 24-24.

State College begins its final series of the season — a two-game set at Mahoning Valley —at 7:05 p.m. tonight with Phillip Irwin (1-1) on the mound.