Daniel Castano leads State College Spikes to win over Auburn Doubledays
Daniel Castano put on a masterful performance on the mound Friday night.
The State College Spikes starting pitcher threw eight strong innings in a 6-1 win over the Auburn Doubledays at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.
The left-handed pitcher gave up just four hits and a walk while striking out three, allowing only an unearned run. He was efficient on the hill, tossing 90 pitches, 60 for strikes. It was his third straight outing of at least seven innings as he lowered his ERA to 1.24 for the season.
“He goes out there thinking of pitching through the ninth inning,” manager Joe Kruzel said. “That’s just part of his DNA. That’s a great characteristic to have. He believes it’s his game and he’s going to do whatever he has to do to stay in the game.”
The numbers looked good even if he felt he didn’t have his best stuff on the mound, getting ground-ball outs instead of the 10 strikeouts he had in his last game. He is the first pitcher in the New York-Penn League this season to pick up four wins.
“You can go out there and feel like you can throw anything,” the 2016 19th-round draft pick said. “Tonight was one of those nights where I felt like I had to buckle down and focus and pitch, and let my defense work as much as possible.”
The only run allowed was scored in the seventh when his throw to first on a ground ball was dropped to allow Chance Shepard to score.
Dennis Ortega led the Spikes offense with a 2-for-2 day as the team took care of all of its scoring in the sixth inning.
Spencer Trayner threw the ninth inning to finish off the victory, with the pitchers assisted by three double plays in the speedy 2-hour, 13-minute game.
One big inning
The Spikes’ bats were quiet until the sixth when a pair of Auburn errors helped get the offense rolling. Then came a Yariel Gonzalez RBI double, a Brandon Benson RBI sacrifice fly, RBI singles for Ricardo Bautista and Imeldo Diaz and an Edwin Figuera RBI double.
All the runs were off the Doubledays’ third pitcher of the night, Max Engelbrekt (0-1), who pitched just one inning.
Feels like the first time
First pro start: The Big Ten was represented on the mound Friday by Auburn starter Alex Troop, a Michigan State product. The 6-foot-5 left-hander, who had previously worked three innings in two relief appearances, allowed just two walks with three strikeouts in three hitless innings.
Troop was picked in the ninth round by the Washington Nationals last month after tying for the Big Ten lead with eight wins and posting a 2.47 ERA. He also hit .321 with six doubles, three homers and a dozen RBIs as a position player, helping him become a finalist for the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award. Troop, however, never pitched against Penn State during his college career.
Spikes debut: Diaz stepped into the batter’s box as a Spike for the first time Friday, going 1 for 3 with an RBI and a walk.
Diaz and Stanley Espinal were acquired by the parent St. Louis Cardinals on Monday from the Boston Red Sox. Diaz hit .208 in seven games for the Lowell Spinners before the trade.
Feels like so many before
Auburn leadoff batter Zach Collier cracked a triple to the left-center gap in the third inning and was 2 for 4. The 26-year-old Collier was a 2008 draft pick of the Philadelphia Phillies and has over 2,400 at-bats to his credit. He started the year at Class AA Harrisburg but had not played since May 12.
Next up
Auburn at State College, noon Saturday: The teams play Game 2 of the three-game series with Spikes right-hander Jonathon Mulford (0-2, 7.50 ERA) facing Doubledays righty Weston Davis (0-0, 0.00).
This story was originally published July 7, 2017 at 9:41 PM with the headline "Daniel Castano leads State College Spikes to win over Auburn Doubledays."