MANCHESTER, N.H. – Two straight days with extra innings, but different results to be sure.
The Binghamton Rumble Ponies defeated the New Hampshire Fisher Cats on Saturday night, finishing with a 4-2 result in 12 innings.
Both teams combined to go 5-for-38 with runners in scoring position, with the Fisher Cats alone standing 19 runners on base over the evening’s proceedings.
However, New Hampshire did strike first, as Chad Spanberger recorded his first double of the year, bringing Joshua Palacios home in the third.
Meanwhile, Binghamton struggled off New Hampshire starting pitcher Zach Logue. The lefty took a perfect game into the sixth until a pair of hits tied the game up.
Doubles from Nash Knight and Vinny Capra in the bottom of the sixth gave New Hampshire their one-run lead back, but that lead disappeared again in the seventh thanks to Will Toffey’s homer over the right-center field fence.
Neither team found much traction after that point until a pair of wild pitches from New Hampshire reliever Ty Tice catalyzed a two-run rally by the Ponies in the 12th. Unlike Friday night’s contest, New Hampshire could not respond this time, meekly going down in order to seal the defeat.
Tice took the loss, allowing two runs off two hits in 2 1/3 innings of work, striking out four Binghamton batters in the process.
Joe Zanghi was the winning pitcher of record, facing just three batters over the minimum while recording seven outs in the ninth, tenth and eleventh. Adonis Uceta got the save for Binghamton for his work in the 12th.
The opening series concludes on Sunday afternoon at 1:35 p.m. as Yennsy Diaz takes the mound for New Hampshire against Binghamton’s Mike Gibbons.