State College Spikes explode on offense, tally 17 hits in win over Batavia

The State College Spikes made quick work of the Batavia Muckdogs on Thursday night, as they cruised to an 11-1 victory after taking an early lead.

State College led 4-0 after two innings and never looked back. Five different Spikes finished with at least three hits apiece, as the team totaled 17 hits — five of which went for extra bases.

Jonathon Mulford picked up the win on the mound after pitching 5  1/3 innings and allowing just one run on three hits. The bullpen was even better: In 3  2/3 innings, it struck out four, walked none and allowed no runs.

With the win, the Spikes improve to 20-15 while the Muckdogs fall to 11-24.

Player of the game

State College third baseman Evan Mendoza: There was plenty of offense to go around Thursday, but no player was better than Mendoza. He finished 4 of 5 — coming up a home run short of the cycle — and knocked in a game-high three runs. He struck out in his first at-bat but then came up big in each plate appearance thereafter.

Turning point

Three-run second inning: State College’s first five batters of the inning all reached base and wound up scoring three runs — thanks to three singles, a double, a fielding error and a wild pitch. That gave the Spikes plenty of cushion to work with and took a lot of pressure off the pitchers.

By the numbers

Lots of offense: Overall, the Spikes had runners in scoring position on 27 occasions — and capitalized seven times. They also batted .378 as a team Thursday night.

Roster move

Received: Right-handed pitcher Johan Oviedo was received from Rookie-level Johnson City on Wednesday. The 6-foot-6 pitcher struck out 31 batters and walked 18 over 27  2/3 innings while there. He also owned a 4.88 ERA.

Up next

State College at Batavia, 7:05 p.m. Friday: The Spikes’ Andrew Summerville (1-0, 2.35 ERA), a 12th-round pick from earlier this season, will take on the Muckdogs’ Alejandro Mateo (0-1, 3.16 ERA). The Spikes will then finish up the series with Batavia on Saturday and will return home Sunday to take on the Auburn Doubledays.

This story was originally published July 27, 2017 at 10:56 PM with the headline "State College Spikes explode on offense, tally 17 hits in win over Batavia."