5/9/14

Savannah 5 - West Virginia 3



The Savannah Sand Gnats defeated the West Virginia Power 5-3 on Thursday for their third straight victory. Although no Savannah pitcher completed three innings, the foursome combined to strike out 13 hitters while allowing just one earned run.

Mistakes defined the game on both sides, as Savannah and West Virginia each tied season-high totals for errors at three and four, respectively.

Savannah (22-9) hopped on board in the first inning when 1B Dominic Smith delivered a two-RBI bases-loaded single off Power starter Dovydas Neverauskas. Savannah second baseman L.J. Mazzilli then crossed the plate on a wild pitch to make it 3-0. The Gnats are now 14-3 when scoring first.

In the third inning, West Virginia (11-22) scored their only earned run charged to Savannah pitching when catcher Reese McGuire singled home RF Harold Ramirez. Next, McGuire and 2B Erich Weiss both scored on a throwing error to first base by Mazzilli, who was playing shortstop in place of Gavin Cecchini, to tie the game up 3-3.

The Gnats took the lead on an RBI single by Mazzilli in the fifth inning and then added an insurance run by way of a Victor Cruz solo home run in the ninth.  

Starter Dario Alvarez threw two and two-thirds innings, navigating five hits while striking out three. The lefty was charged with just one out of the three runs that crossed the plate on his watch. This represented his first earned run yielded in 19 and one-thirds innings – his first all year.

Savannah reliever Dawris Frias worked around two walks to complete two and one-thirds hitless innings, enough to earn him his second win of the season. Tim Peterson then pitched two and one-thirds of his own, striking out four before Robert Coles cruised through the last five outs for his sixth save of the year. - team press release

No comments: