Suns pinched in 9th

May 27, 2010

LAKEWOOD, N.J. -- The Lakewood BlueClaws spoiled Hagerstown's comeback with a late rally of their own Wednesday, scoring three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning for an 11-10 victory over the Suns.

Hagerstown trailed 8-3 before erupting for six runs in the top of the eighth to take a 9-8 lead. J.R. Higley and Brett Newsome got the Suns' rally started with back-to-back doubles, and Steven Souza capped it with a two-out, three-run homer to left.

The Suns made it 10-8 in the ninth on an RBI double by Sandy Leon.

The BlueClaws rallied in the bottom half against Wanel Vasquez (2-3), the Suns' fifth pitcher of the game. Adam Buschini drew a leadoff walk and Kyle Lafrenz followed with an RBI double. After pinch runner Anthony Hewitt went to third on a groundout, Jiwan James was hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners, and Dean Weaver replaced Vasquez on the mound.

Alan Schoenberger then reached base on a fielding error by second baseman Jeff Kobernus, allowing Hewitt to score the tying run as James took third. After Schoenberger stole second, Leandro Castro grounded to Kobernus, and James beat the throw home to score the winning run.

The Suns tied the game at 2-2 in the fourth on RBI singles by Newsome and Leon. They took a 3-2 lead in the sixth on Francisco Soriano's bases-loaded RBI fielder's choice. The BlueClaws answered with six runs in the bottom half.

The game featured 21 runs, 27 hits, nine walks, three hit batters, two wild pitches, four balks and four errors.

Souza and Leon each had three of the Suns' 12 hits, while J.P. Ramirez and Newsome each had two.

Stephen Batts had three hits, including two doubles, for Lakewood.

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