State College Spikes unable to recover from the Scrappers’ big second inning in 10-2 loss

State College pitcher Andrew Moore’s perfect three-inning middle relief appearance was spoiled by Mahoning Valley, as the Scrappers dismantled the Spikes, 10-2, Wednesday night at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.

State College spun out of control with a tough second inning, one where Mahoning Valley was able to bat around the order and earned a staggering 12 plate appearances. The Scrappers scored seven times, a number that proved to be an insurmountable sum.

State College did have a chance to make the game interesting in the bottom of the fifth, however. After scoring two early runs, the Spikes loaded the bases with no outs, but the next three batters for the team fell in succession, ending the frame with their only two runs of the evening.

“Even though we had the same amount of hits, we just didn’t have timely hitting,” said Spikes’ manager Delwyn Young. “We didn’t finish the job, the offense needed to pick up the pitching staff and we just weren’t able to get that.”

It was a tough night for most of the Spikes pitchers, despite only allowing eight total hits, the team allowed free bases nine different times over the course of the game with eight bases on balls and a hit by pitch. The Scrappers first run of the afternoon was scored on a Samuel Crail walk thrown by starting pitcher Griffin Miller, who left the game in the second with an injury.

Left fielder James Jett was the lead batter for State College, he finished with two hits and a single RBI.

PLAYER OF THE GAME

P Andrew Moore: Despite the Spikes’ slow start to the game, Moore shined in relief and was the main reason that the team still had a chance to come back and make the game interesting.

He tossed three perfect innings, recording nine consecutive outs and six strikeouts in the impressive middle relief performance. The final five batters that he faced struck out, posting speeds as high as an impressive 97 mph on the radar gun.

“Recently I’ve locked in on the mound and my focus is just me and the catcher,” Moore said. “I wish I had nine strikeouts, (but) can’t complain, no runs, no walks; pretty good.”

SERIES OVERVIEW

This Spikes’ big loss evened the series up at one game each, with the final game to be played Thursday. The Spikes won the first game of the series, 5-3, Tuesday before rain forced the teams to head to the locker rooms after just seven innings.

State College designated hitter Kenny Piper shined in that contest, hitting 3-of-4 with a double and two runs scored in the shortened ballgame.

UP NEXT

The Spikes and Scrappers are scheduled to play a rubber match for the series at 6:35 p.m. Thursday in State College.

The team will be celebrating autocorrect night, a game created to “salute the best (or worst) autocorrect moments,” as per the team website, and the first 250 guests will receive a rubber duck that can be exchanged for a free Primanti Bros sandwich downtown.

This story was originally published June 30, 2021 at 11:13 PM.