ERIE, Penn. – The New Hampshire Fisher Cats got two wins on Tuesday to make up for their lack of a game on Monday, although at points it looked like those wins might slip into Wednesday.
For the first time since May 5, New Hampshire swept a doubleheader, defeating the Erie Sea Wolves by scores of 5-3 and 5-4.
Under Eastern League rules, doubleheaders have seven regulation innings, but Tuesday’s games required eight and ten innings respectively, spanning just over five hours of baseball.
In the first game, New Hampshire took a 1-0 lead in the second thanks to a Gunnar Heidt double, bringing Max Pentecost across the plate.
Jon Berti added a two-RBI single in the fifth, but Erie would tie up the contest in the sixth as the first five Sea Wolves batters reached base safely.
The deadlock ultimately broke due to Cavan Biggio’s one-out single, bringing Jonathan Davis and Andrew Guillotte home to regain the lead.
New Hampshire’s Jordan Romano and Erie’s Beau Burrows lasted five innings in their respective starts, with Romano facing two batters in the sixth before leaving in favor of Danny Young.
The win went to Young (2-0) with Dusty Issacs earning his first save of the year for a 1-2-3 inning in the eighth.
John Schreiber (0-4) was the losing pitcher of record for Erie.
Berti went 3-for-4, with Heidt and Biggio also adding two hits each, while Dominic Ficociello and Sergio Alcantara had two hits each for Erie.
That three-hit performance grew Berti’s hit streak to nine games, but that streak ended in the second half of the doubleheader, as only Davis, Guillotte and Bo Bichette managed hits against the Sea Wolves pitching staff.
However, Guillotte’s hit sailed over the left field fence in the sixth and Bichette’s single brought home Guillotte in the ninth.
Erie’s Jake Rogers tied up the contest for a fourth time in the bottom of the ninth, but a sacrifice fly by Heidt gave the Fisher Cats one last lead in the tenth, bringing Biggio across the plate for a lead that reliever Kirby Snead held in the bottom of the tenth.
Danny Woodrow singlehandedly equaled New Hampshire’s hit tally, going 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI for the hosts. Erie centerfielder Daz Cameron added another two hits, including a triple, as well as a pair of walks.
The see-saw nature of the contest wasted another strong start for New Hampshire’s TJ Zeuch, who scattered seven hits in seven innings of work, striking out seven Sea Wolves batters.
Instead the win, and a blown save, went to Travis Bergen, with Snead getting his first save of the year.
Erie’s Alex Faedo pitched six innings in his no decision start, with the loss going to Mark Ecker (3-5).
The two teams conclude their series on Wednesday with a 12:05 p.m start.
