Ballers blast five homers to win second straight over Paddleheads
Drewek homers twice, bullpen holds strong in victory
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 11 | 0 |
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4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 9 | 1 |
By Gareth Kwok
MISSOULA, MT – Davis Drewek homered twice and three others went deep as the Oakland Ballers defeated the Missoula Paddleheads 12-7 at Allegiance Field at Ogren Park on Thursday night for a second consecutive victory.
Oakland (9-12) used two homers in the first to jump out to a 4-0 lead. Tremayne Cobb led off the game with a 446-foot home run to center off Missoula starting right-hander Brendan Beard (L, 1-1). Four batters later, Noah Blythe teed off for an opposite field three-run shot. He has homered in two straight games.
Missoula (12-9) answered with four runs in the bottom of the first. Starting left-hander Joel Tornero was activated from the injured list but struggled with command as he recorded only two outs on the night and gave up four runs on one hit and six walks.
A pair of RBI doubles from Jaden Collura and Jeter Ybarra helped Oakland retake the lead in the third before the Ballers bombarded the Paddleheads in the sixth and eighth innings. Cam Bufford hit a three-run shot 421 feet and Drewek followed with a solo shot to put Oakland ahead by five.
Drewek launched his second homer of the game in the eighth, a two-run tank to right-center that traveled 456 feet. It's the third multi-homer game of his professional career after he had two multi-homer games last season.
The Ballers' bullpen contained the Missoula offense the rest of the way and held them to just three runs after the first inning. Despite issuing five walks, Derek Murphy (W, 1-1) allowed just one run in 2.2 innings of relief to earn his first professional win. Michael Riley delivered 3.1 innings of two-run ball with three strikeouts. Matthew Maloney struck out a pair in 1.1 scoreless innings and Braydon Nelson pitched a scoreless ninth to seal the Ballers victory.
The Ballers continue their six-game series on Friday night against the Missoula Paddleheads. Right-hander Aidan Risse will get the start for Oakland. First pitch is scheduled for 5:35 p.m from Allegiance Field at Ogren Park. Fans can tune in beginning at 5:20 p.m on the Oakland Ballers YouTube Channel and HomeTeam Network.
