Ballers late comeback falls short in Wednesday loss to Coast
Six-run deficit too much to overcome
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 15 | 1 |
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0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | X | 8 | 5 | 1 |
LONG BEACH, CA – The Oakland Ballers made a spirited comeback from down as many as six runs but dropped their second consecutive game to the Long Beach Coast by a final of 8-7 at Blair Field.
Oakland (16-22) trailed 8-2 through five innings after Long Beach scored (30-8) five runs in the third. Three of those five runs came on a three-run homer from Jacob Jablonski, his second homer of the night after he homered in the second to open the scoring.
Starting right-hander Charlie Hurley (L, 1-3) pitched into the fifth but gave up all eight runs on five hits, three walks, and four hit batters with four strikeouts in 4.1 innings of work.
Cuba Bess hit a two-run homer in the fifth to give the Coast its biggest lead of the night at 8-2.
The Ballers fought back with solo homers from Tremayne Cobb and Paul Winland in the seventh and eighth innings, respectively. Cobb's homer traveled 431 feet and Winland's homer was his third in just his fifth game as a Baller.
A throwing error from Anthony Mata while attempting to turn a double play in the eighth scored Brendan O'Sullivan from second to cut the Long Beach lead down to three.
The Ballers bullpen kept the team in the game thanks to Langston Burkett and Jacob Petersheim. Burkett threw 2.2 scoreless innings with a season-high five strikeouts and Jacob Petersheim struck out the side in a perfect eighth.
Down three runs entering the ninth, Jake Allgeyer led off with a walk, Jaden Collura doubled and Jeter Ybarra singled in Allgeyer to bring the Coast lead down to two. After Cam Bufford struck out swinging and Winland flied out to center, Collura scored from third on a wild pitch and Ybarra advanced to second to put the tying run in scoring position. However, Cole Percival (S, 2) struck out O'Sullivan swinging to end the ballgame and secure a third straight series victory for the Coast over the Ballers.
Jake Dixon (W, 2-0) earned the win for Long Beach after recording the final out of the fifth and the first out of the sixth.
The Ballers conclude their three-game road series against the Long Beach Coast on Thursday, July 2. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m from Blair Field. Fans can tune in beginning at 6:15 p.m on the Oakland Ballers YouTube Channel and HomeTeam Network.
