Long Island falls on late runs from Southern Maryland

(Central Islip, N.Y., Sept. 11, 2014) – The Long Island Ducks were defeated by the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 8-4 on Thursday evening in the finale of a three-game series at Bethpage Ballpark.

GAME AUDIO: Highlights from the series finale

POSTGAME VIDEO: Kevin Baez and Cody Puckett talk about the game

Southern Maryland struck first in the opening inning on a two-out RBI single to left by Jake Opitz off Ducks starter Jared Lansford. Long Island answered in the second inning with three home runs in a four-batter span. Bill Hall, Adam Bailey and Cody Puckett all launched solo homers off Blue Crabs starter Jake Hale.

The Blue Crabs took the lead back with a two-out, two-run single to left by C.J. Ziegler in the third and a RBI single by Opitz in the fifth. However, the Ducks tied the game at four in the bottom of the fifth on a two-out RBI double from Brendan Harris.

Southern Maryland jumped back ahead for good with a three-run seventh inning and another in the eighth. A run-scoring error, a bases loaded walk to Steve Moss, a sac fly to center by Ziegler and a solo homer to left by Bobby Stevens did the damage.

Neither starter factored into the decision. Lansford tossed six innings, allowing four runs on 10 hits and two walks while striking out three. Hale lasted five innings, giving up four runs on six hits with two strikeouts. Wade Korpi (6-3) picked up the win after tossing a scoreless sixth inning, striking out two. Brett Lorin (2-4) suffered the loss after yielding three runs (two earned) on two hits and a walk in one-third of an inning.

The Ducks hit the road on Friday for a three-game series against the York Revolution. Game time is slated for 6:30 p.m. at Santander Stadium. Right-hander John Brownell takes the mound for the Ducks against Revolution southpaw Alain Quijano. Fans can follow all the action live on Long Island’s home for news, traffic and weather, 103.9-FM LI News Radio. The game can also be heard online by CLICKING HERE.

Long Island returns home on Tuesday, September 16 to begin a three-game set against the Lancaster Barnstormers. First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m., with the Bethpage Ballpark gates opening at 5:35. It will be Prostate Cancer Awareness Night at the ballpark with Ed Randall’s “Fans for the Cure.” Come team up against Prostate Cancer and be a part of the largest healthcare initiative in the history of minor league baseball. Tickets for the game and every Ducks regular season home game are now on sale. Fans can purchase their tickets by visiting the Bethpage Ballpark box office, calling 631-940-TIXX or by CLICKING HERE.

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Duck Tales: The Ducks launched three home runs in the second inning on Thursday, including back-to-back homers by Bill Hall and Adam Bailey. It marked the first time Long Island homered three times in one inning and the first time the Ducks hit back-to-back homers since July 7 against the Sugar Land Skeeters. In that game, Cody Puckett hit a solo homer before Randy Ruiz (two-run) and Brendan Harris (solo) hit back-to-back longballs in the seventh inning, all against Ben Kozlowski. The Ducks have now hit 98 homers as a team this year, leaving them two shy of meeting the Chapey’s Home Run Challenge with nine games remaining…Brendan Harris extended his on-base streak to 26 consecutive games with a double in the fifth inning. He has earned hits in 23 of the 26 contests. During the on-base streak, he is batting .350 (36-for-103) with seven doubles, three home runs, 16 RBI, 22 runs and 17 walks. Cody Puckett has the longest on-base streak by a Duck this season at 29 games (May 6 – June 6)…Tommy Organ tossed a scoreless two-thirds of an inning on Thursday. He now has appeared in eight consecutive games without allowing a run. In that span, the southpaw has given up just three hits and two walks while striking out six over seven and two-thirds innings of work. In addition, Organ has allowed a run in just one of his 16 games thus far with Long Island (3 on August 24 against Somerset).

 Game Date: 09/11/2014 Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 8 AT Long Island Ducks 4 YTD YTD S Maryland AB R H BI AVG L Island AB R H BI AVG B.Stevens SS 5 4 4 1 .258 F.Lentini RF 4 0 0 0 .295 J.Mitchell CF 4 2 1 0 .281 B.Harris 3B 4 0 1 1 .301 C.Hankerd RF 3 2 1 0 .280 L.Ford CF 4 0 0 0 .347 J.Arrojo RF 0 0 0 0 .000 B.Hall DH 3 1 1 1 .260 J.Opitz 2B 5 0 3 2 .280 A.Bailey LF 4 1 1 1 .306 S.Moss DH 3 0 2 1 .301 C.Retherford 1B 3 0 0 0 .306 C.Ziegler 1B 4 0 1 3 .281 C.Puckett 2B 3 1 1 1 .283 M.Schwartz LF 5 0 1 0 .265 J.Vazquez C 4 1 1 0 .212 A.Chavez 3B 4 0 0 0 .273 D.Lyons SS 4 0 1 0 .253 J.Skelton C 4 0 1 0 .241 37 8 14 7 33 4 6 4 S Maryland 1 0 2 0 1 0 3 1 0 - 8 14 0 L Island 0 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 - 4 6 1 2B--M.Schwartz (2), B.Harris (20). HR--B.Stevens (7), B.Hall (4), A.Bailey (19), C.Puckett (9). RBI--B.Stevens (45), J.Opitz 2 (68), S.Moss (21), C.Ziegler 3 (73), B.Harris (48), B.Hall (19), A.Bailey (88), C.Puckett (74). HP--C.Hankerd (14). SF--C.Ziegler (5). SH--J.Mitchell (0). CS--C.Hankerd (1), M.Schwartz (1), J.Skelton (4). E--J.Vazquez (5). LOB--S Maryland 8, L Island 5. YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA S Maryland J.Hale 5.0 6 4 4 0 2 3 3.96 W.Korpi (W,6-3) 1.0 0 0 0 1 2 0 2.85 S.Keeler 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.00 J.Marban 0.2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0.00 C.Manning 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 4.60 B.Grening 1.0 0 0 0 1 2 0 6.27 9 6 4 4 3 7 3 L Island J.Lansford 6.0 10 4 4 2 3 0 3.03 B.Lorin (L,2-4) 0.1 2 3 2 1 0 0 2.63 T.Organ 0.2 0 0 0 0 1 0 1.84 J.Lansford 1.0 1 1 1 0 2 1 3.05 E.Niesen 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 3.24 9 14 8 7 3 7 1 HB--B.Lorin (1). SO--C.Hankerd, S.Moss, C.Ziegler 2, M.Schwartz 2, J.Skelton, B.Hall, A.Bailey, C.Retherford 2, C.Puckett, J.Vazquez 2. BB--C.Hankerd, S.Moss 2, B.Hall, C.Retherford, C.Puckett. BF--J.Hale 21 (109), W.Korpi 4 (303), S.Keeler 3 (12), J.Marban 3 (13), C.Manning (205), B.Grening 4 (254), J.Lansford 27 (650), B.Lorin 6 (207), T.Organ 2 (56), J.Lansford 4 (177), E.Niesen 4 (237). P-S--J.Hale 76-52, W.Korpi 21-13, S.Keeler 11-5, J.Marban 12-6, C.Manning 6-3, B.Grening 16-8, J.Lansford 105-68, B.Lorin 16-8, T.Organ 7-5, J.Lansford 19-10, E.Niesen 14-10. T--3:15. A--4006 Plate Umpire - Frank Leparik, Field Umpire #1 - Fred DeJesus, Field Umpire #2 - Warren Nicholson