W: Wiseman (3-0)- 3 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
L: Gard (3-2)- 5.1 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 3 K
S: Brown (3)- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K
HARRISONBURG, Va., July 7, 2015 – The Turks rally for four runs in the 6th to earn a 5-3 come-from-behind victory over the Aldie Senators at Veterans Memorial Park on Tuesday night. The loss ends Aldie’s six-game win streak and extends the Turks’ streak to seven.
Down 3-1, Tripp Shelton, Shane Billings and Steve McLean attempted and succeeded on three straight bunts, loading the bases to start the 6th inning. In the next at-bat, Aldie shortstop Garrett Vrbanic tried to get the force at third on Tyler Straub’s bouncer but the throw was late and Shelton scored easily to make it 3-2. Jesse Baker followed with a fielder’s choice to the first baseman who tried to double Billings off at home but the speedster slide across the plate ahead of the throw to tie the game at 3. Aaron Dodson put an exclamation mark on the inning when his line-drive single to left scored both runners in scoring position to give the Turks their first lead of the game at 5-3.
The Turks win their
Tanner Shelton got his first start of the season and pitched well enough to give the Turks a shot at a win. The lefty allowed two earned runs on six hits over five innings after pitching only 2.2 innings the rest of the season combined. His Georgia Tech teammate, Patrick Wiseman, came in from the bullpen and perfectly executed his task, tossing three scoreless frames to bridge starter and closer. Tyler Brown was given the closer role on the night and struck out two in a three up, three down 9th to secure the victory.
The top of the lineup carried the load for the Harrisonburg offense in this one. One through four in the lineup included Billings, McLean, Straub and Jesse Baker with the quartet collecting six of the Turks’ eight hits as well as three of five runs scored. With a 2-for-4 performance from the plate, Billings returns his batting over the .400 mark at .404.
Kameron Esthay got the Turks on the board in the third inning with a solo home run over the right field fence, his first of the season. We can’t confirm if it served as motivation for the Baylor Bear’s power surge, but his parents made jambalaya for the post-game meal for the first time this season as well.
Aldie starting pitcher took the loss after allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits over 5.1innings. The Southeastern University lefty had won three of his last four starts coming into the ball game. Johnny Debity got the call in the bullpen from Aldie’s skipper and did well, throwing 2.2 scoreless innings.
No batter collected multiple hits for the Senators on the night. Instead, the away team boasted seven different players recording one hit each.
Aldie took an early lead in the second inning when Matthew Malacane crossed the plate on Zach Herbaugh’s single. Then, they extended their lead to 3-0 in the third with a solo shot by Weber Pike and an RBI single by Garrett Suggs.
The Turks continue to stay hot en route to their 20th win of the season after having not earned win number 20 until July 17th last season. Aldie drops to 13-11.
The Turks travel to Winchester (12-13) for the first time in 2015 tomorrow night before returning home Thursday for a double-header against the Woodstock River Bandits (9-15). As always, we hope to see you there and go Turks!