BATAVIA, N.Y. - Matt Skirving bumped his doubles total up to seven with an RBI two-base hit and Stetson Allie made another fine start, but the State College Spikes fell in the bottom of the ninth to the Batavia Muckdogs, 2-1, on Wednesday night at Dwyer Stadium.
Skirving's smash to the right field wall scored Chris Lashmet to tie the game, 1-1, in the fifth inning. The Spikes' (5-15) first baseman also snared a short-hop grounder to keep the game tied in the seventh inning, and reached base twice in the game.
Allie struck out five batters in one outing for the second straight start, allowing Batavia's (10-10) first run on three hits and two walks. The right-hander retired the last five hitters he faced before giving way to reliever Vince Payne, who added three scoreless innings for State College.
However, in the ninth inning, Virgil Hill led off with a triple to right field off the newly entered Emmanuel De Leon (1-2), and Cesar Valera followed with a base hit to shallow center over the drawn-in infield to win the game for Batavia.
Batavia took the initial lead in the second inning on back-to-back doubles by David Medina and Casey Rasmus.
Alex Fusilier and Samuel Gonzalez added base hits for the Spikes, with Taylor Lewis reaching base on a pair of walks.
Payne yielded two hits and two walks while adding a strikeout during his time on the mound. Mike Jefferson pitched a perfect eighth inning for the Spikes, as well.
Muckdogs reliever Travis Miller (1-0) got the win with two scoreless innings to finish out the game. Miller recorded one walk and one strikeout. Right-hander Seth Maness started for Batavia and went seven innings, the longest a starter has lasted against the Spikes this year. Maness allowed an unearned run on three hits and two walks while striking out five batters.
Thursday, the Spikes and Muckdogs face off at 7:05 p.m. in the second game of their three-game set at Dwyer Stadium, and the second of six straight meetings between the clubs. State College's starter will be announced prior to the game, but is not yet determined. Batavia will go with right-hander Todd McInnis (1-0), who holds a 0.64 earned run average over his first four games on the hill.
