West Virginia 8
Cyclones 1
July 22 at West Virginia
Matt Blackham couldn’t make it out of the second inning as the Cyclones were trounced by the Black Bears 8–1.
Brooklyn committed five errors, tying a dubious team record that was last done less than two weeks ago.
The Black Bears scored in the bottom of the first before Jeff Diehl’s third home run of the year tied the game, but things would go downhill from there.
An error by William Fuller and a single put runners on the corners with nobody out.
Christian Kelley’s run-scoring single gave West Virginia the lead before Mitchell Tolman bunted for a single to load the bases.
Blackham then lost control as a wild pitch scored another run, and a second wild pitch moved the runners to second and third.
Kevin Kramer followed with a single, making it 4–1.
A few batters later, Logan Hill drove in two runs to put the Cyclones in a five-run hole.
Tom Gamboa brought in Darwin Frias from the bullpen and escaped further damage in the second.
West Virginia would score twice in the third, first when, with runners on first and second, Frias made a throwing error on a pick-off attempt, scoring the runner from second.
A wild pitch then made the score 8–1.
The Cyclones went quietly, only mustering two hits, both by Fulmer, over the final six innings.
Manuel Hilario, who entered the game in the eighth as a defensive replacement for Brandon Brosher, then was ejected in the ninth when he argued a called-third strike with umpire Donnie Smith.
The 18–13 Cyclones continue the road trip tonight at 7:05 pm as they try to avoid being swept by the Black Bears.
Ups and downs
Here’s a breakdown of Cyclones hitting below the Mendoza Line going into Thursday:
• Manuel Hilario: .111
• Enmanuel Zabala: .191.
• Alfredo Reyes: .146
• Zack Mathieu: .176
• Pedro Perez: .179.
• Brandon Brosher: .188
• Oswald Caraballo: .106
