STATE COLLEGE Barrett Barnes blasted his first home run at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park this season and Samuel Gonzalez reached base three times, but it was not quite enough as the State College Spikes fell to the Brooklyn Cyclones, 3-2, on Sunday night
Barnes's long ball over the left field wall in the fourth inning off of Brooklyn (17-10) starter Luis Cessa (2-1) cut the State College (14-13) deficit to one run. It was the third home run overall for the Pirates' 2012 supplemental first-round draft choice out Texas Tech, after two homers in one series at Tri-City from July 4-6.
The game was delayed 1 hour, 59 minutes at the start by rain, and when it picked up, the Spikes fell behind in the third inning. Brandon Nimmo and Jonathan Clark delivered back-to-back doubles to start the frame, and Clark then scored on a sacrifice fly by Dimas Ponce to make it 2-0, Cyclones.
After Barnes homered to cut the margin to 2-1, Alex Sanchez singled home Ponce in the fifth inning to bump the Spikes' deficit back up to two runs. However, Gonzalez answered with an RBI single in the sixth inning to bring in Jacob Stallings after his leadoff double, cutting the Brooklyn advantage to one run.
The Spikes launched one last effort to tie the game in the ninth inning, as D.J. Crumlich began the bottom half with a single and Stallings bunted him over to second base. Back-to-back flyouts to right field ended State College hopes, however, leaving the final score.
Gonzalez also added a pair of walks on the night, while Jodaneli Carvajal doubled for the Spikes as well.
State College starter Jason Creasy (0-2) took the loss after allowing all three Brooklyn runs on seven hits and one walk over five innings. It was the third straight start that Creasy had gone five innings on the mound.
Cessa earned the win for the Cyclones, yielding two runs on six hits and two walks while striking out two over six innings. Reliever Matthew Bowman (2) went the rest of the way for the save, giving up one hit and striking out one in three scoreless frames.
Sanchez went 3-for-4 with a double in addition to his run batted in for Brooklyn.
Monday, the Spikes and Cyclones complete their three-game series at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park with a 7:05 p.m. matchup. State College will have right-hander Adrian Sampson (0-0), the fifth-round selection of the Pirates in the 2012 MLB Draft, on the mound. Brooklyn will go with right-hander Hansel Robles (1-1).
