The Dutchmen and Trail Blazers battled in a doubleheader in Boonville.
The Albany Dutchmen swept both ends of a doubleheader with the Adirondack Trail Blazers on Thursday night, claiming 6-3 and 8-3 victories in Boonville. Sean Aspinall (Azusa Pacific) had a huge night for the Dutchmen, driving in six runs over the course of the two games.
The first game saw Albany take a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Adam Lee (Lipscomb) started the offense with a single with one out in the inning. Aspinall began his night to remember with a double that scored Lee. Aspinall came in to score on a Cameron Miller (Baylor) single, giving the Dutchmen a lead that would never vanish.
Adirondack scored their first run in the bottom of the second inning, when RJ Devish (Rutgers) clubbed a solo home run to right center field, cutting the score to 2-1.
The Dutchmen added two runs in the top of the fifth inning. After the first hitter of the inning flied out, Justin Brock (Franklin Pierce) dropped a double into shallow right field, and Lee followed with an infield single. Aspinall then drove in his second and third runs of the night with a single to increase the Albany lead to 4-1.
Once again, the Albany lead was trimmed to one run by a Trail Blazer home run. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Mike Carter (Rutgers) drilled a two-run shot to right center field, scoring Greg Wasikowski (Bucknell). That cut the Albany lead to 4-3.
However, the Dutchmen re-extended the lead with a long ball of their own. With one out in the inning, Miller drove a home run to left field, scoring Aspinall and driving in his third run of the game, accounting for the 6-3 final score.
Jose Hernandez (Dean College) earned the win for the Dutchmen, as he worked 4.1 innings with just four hits allowed. Austin Foote (Indiana) was nearly unhittable over the next 1.2 innings, striking out four and allowing just one of his six hitters to even put a ball in play. Kyle Zurak (Radford) earned his third save of the season by firing a scoreless seventh inning. The loss was charged to Adirondack’s Bryan Sondergard (NJIT).
In Game Two, the Dutchmen only needed one big inning to provide enough runs to get the night’s second victory. That inning was a seven-run second inning, which saw the Dutchmen fire six hits and never look back.
The inning began with a Miller walk and a single by Nick Jewett (Trinity University). After a Will Miller (College of the Albemarle) sacrifice bunt, Demetrius Webb singled to left field, scoring both runners and giving Albany a 2-0 lead. Dave Vaccaro (Radford) reached on an error, and James Locklear drove in the third run with an RBI single. After a Brock single loaded the bases, Danny Hrbek (Radford) drove in two more runs with a single. The scoring ended with two more runs batted in from Aspinall, who doubled off the wall.
The Trail Blazers scored a run in the third inning on a Justin Korenblatt (La Salle) single that scored Wasikowski.
Albany’s lead was re-extended to seven runs in the sixth inning, as Aspinall drove in his sixth run of the game with another double.
Adirondack scored two runs in the final inning, both on errors, but it was not enough to topple the Dutchmen lead.
The winning Albany pitcher was Jake Welch (Notre Dame College), who moved to 3-0 on the season. Josh Ferry (Illinois) also worked 1.1 scoreless innings for the Dutchmen.
The Dutchmen will battle the Amsterdam Mohawks in a modified doubleheader tomorrow in Albany. The two teams will pick up a suspended game in the top of the fifth inning. After the conclusion of the seven-inning game, the rivals will play a regulation nine-inning affair.It is Phillips Hardware Night at Bellizzi Field, and over $500 worth of prizes will be available to be won. Miracle Gro Groables Seed Pods will be given away to all fans courtesy of Scotts, and Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan will throw out the first pitch for the regularly scheduled game. The suspended game will begin at 5:05, with the nine-inning game scheduled to start at 7:05.
