Ducks rally twice but fall short in heartbreaker

(Central Islip, N.Y., Sept. 4, 2015) – The Long Island Ducks were defeated by the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 5-4 in 16 innings on Friday night in the opener of a four-game series at Bethpage Ballpark.

GAME AUDIO: Highlights from the series opener

POSTGAME VIDEO: Kevin Baez and Delta Cleary, Jr. talk about the game

Randy Ruiz put the Ducks on top 1-0 in the second, hitting a solo homer to left off Southern Maryland starter Tim Sexton. Southern Maryland was able to pull even in the sixth when Ducks reliever Patrick Crider’s wild pitch scored Casey Stevenson from third. In the home half of the sixth, Long Island retook the lead on a RBI fielder’s choice from Dan Lyons.

In the seventh, Antone DeJesus’ two-run homer to right off Ducks reliever Ryan Kussmaul gave the Blue Crabs a 3-2 advantage. However, Delta Cleary, Jr.’s RBI single to center off reliever Orlando Santos in the eighth tied the ballgame at three. The Blue Crabs were able to pull ahead 4-3 in the 10th on Jamar Walton’s infield RBI single off Ducks reliever J.C. Romero. Long Island responded yet again, when Lyons picked up his second RBI on another fielder’s choice facing Blue Crabs reliever Cody Eppley to make the score 4-4.

The score would remain the same until the 16th inning, when Grant Zawadzki bounced a RBI single into center off Ducks reliever Chris McCoy with the bases loaded to give Southern Maryland a 5-4 lead. Long Island could not close the gap.

McCoy (0-1) suffered the loss, giving up one run on six hits in five innings while walking one and striking out four. Chris Bodishbaugh (1-0) earned the win, tossing three shutout innings of relief without allowing a hit. Both starters finished with a no decision. Struck did not allow a run on one hit in four innings while walking three and striking out four. Sexton went six and two-thirds innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits with six strikeouts. Frank DeJiulio, Jr., Amalio Diaz, and Mariel Checo each threw a scoreless inning of relief for the Ducks.

Cleary, Jr. picked up three hits and one RBI for Long Island in the loss. Fehlandt Lentini had two hits and scored three times.

The Ducks continue their four-game set with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs on Saturday night. Game time is slated for 6:35 p.m., with the Bethpage Ballpark gates opening at 5:35 (5:20 for full season ticket holders). It will be Prostate Cancer Awareness Night at the ballpark, presented by BigCatBikes.com and Ed Randall’s “Fans For the Cure” with Prostate Cancer Screening Blood Tests courtesy of Winthrop-University Hospital and Winthrop Urology, PC. Following Saturday’s game, all fans in attendance will be treated to a Pyrotecnico Fireworks Extravaganza. It will also be a Dick’s Sporting Goods Saturday at Bethpage Ballpark! Ducks staff members will be handing out coupons with a special offer from Dick’s Sporting Goods to fans as they exit the ballpark following the fireworks show. Right-hander Bruce Kern gets the start for the Ducks against Blue Crabs southpaw Jon Leicester. Tickets to the game and all Ducks home games are available by visiting the Bethpage Ballpark box office, calling (631) 940-TIXX or CLICKING HERE.

Fans can follow all of the action live on the Ducks’ flagship radio station, 103.9-FM LI News Radio. Streaming video and audio will also be available online by CLICKING HERE.

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Duck Tales: Friday’s game was the longest game of the season for the Ducks in both innings (16) and time of game (four hours, 55 minutes). The previous high came on May 31 in a 4-3 loss to the York Revolution, which last 15 innings and four hours, 35 minutes. Long Island’s shortest extra inning game came on May 28 at Somerset, which lasted 12 innings and two hours, 58 minutes…Delta Cleary, Jr. connected for three hits in the game and has now hit safely in 19 consecutive games. That is the longest hitting streak by a Ducks player this season. During the streak, the outfielder is batting .424 (36-for-85) with four doubles, one triple, seven RBI and 14 runs scored. It was his team-leading 10th three-hit game of the season and 30th multi-hit contest…Fehlandt Lentini finished with two hits and three runs scored on the night. It was the second time this season that he scored three runs in a single game. The first came on August 12 in an 11-2 win over Camden. Lentini has now collected six two-hit games and 12 multi-hit contests in 33 games with the Ducks in 2015…Nick Struck threw four scoreless innings as the spot starter on Friday. It was his first start of the season after pitching 43 games out of the bullpen. The right-hander has now made nine consecutive appearances without allowing a single run. In that span, he has two wins and has given up four hits and nine walks while striking out 13 batters in 12 innings.

 Game Date: 09/04/2015 Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 5 AT Long Island Ducks 4 (EXTRA INNINGS) YTD YTD S Maryland AB R H BI AVG L Island AB R H BI AVG F.Lewis DH 7 0 1 0 .246 F.Lentini RF 7 3 2 0 .297 C.Stevenson 2B 7 2 4 0 .281 D.Cleary Jr. CF 7 0 3 1 .311 Z.Wilson 1B 6 0 0 0 .286 D.Lyons SS 7 0 1 2 .302 B.Nelson 3B 2 0 0 0 .296 R.Ruiz DH 7 1 1 1 .332 G.Zawadzki 3B 5 0 2 1 .173 S.Burroughs 1B 4 0 1 0 .354 J.Walton LF 5 0 1 1 .279 C.Hughes PR 0 0 0 0 .188 C.Frawley SS 7 0 2 0 .260 S.McQuail 1B 2 0 0 0 .165 K.Castillo C 7 0 1 0 .251 N.Zapata C 6 0 1 0 .306 T.Wagner RF 5 2 0 0 .228 C.Puckett 3B 6 0 1 0 .277 A.DeJesus CF 6 1 1 2 .241 A.Vega LF 6 0 0 0 .266 E.Reyes 2B 6 0 0 0 .211 57 5 12 4 58 4 10 4 S Maryland 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 5 12 1 L Island 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 4 10 0 2B--C.Frawley (19), F.Lentini (9). HR--A.DeJesus (3), R.Ruiz (8). RBI--G.Zawadzki (6), J.Walton (36), A.DeJesus 2 (22), D.Cleary Jr. (36), D.Lyons 2 (69), R.Ruiz (37). HP--Z.Wilson (2), T.Wagner (5), N.Zapata (4). SH--A.DeJesus (0). SB--F.Lentini (6), D.Lyons (18). E--G.Zawadzki (6). LOB--S Maryland 15, L Island 8. DP--C. Stevenson(2B) - C. Frawley(SS) - Z. Wilson(1B), C. Puckett(3B) - S. Burroughs(1B). YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA S Maryland T.Sexton 6.2 5 2 1 0 6 1 2.70 T.Barham 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.63 O.Santos 2.0 3 1 1 0 1 0 2.79 C.Eppley 1.0 2 1 1 0 0 0 3.31 S.Perez 3.0 0 0 0 1 3 0 1.31 C.Bodishbaugh (W,1-0) 3.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8.44 16 10 4 3 1 10 1 L Island N.Struck 4.0 1 0 0 3 4 0 2.20 P.Crider 2.0 1 1 1 2 2 0 3.25 R.Kussmaul 1.0 2 2 2 1 2 1 3.35 F.DeJiulio Jr. 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.12 A.Diaz 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.69 J.Romero 1.0 2 1 1 1 0 0 2.28 M.Checo 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.00 C.McCoy (L,0-1) 5.0 6 1 1 1 4 0 1.50 16 12 5 5 8 13 1 WP--N.Struck (3), P.Crider 2 (5). HB--S.Perez (2), N.Struck (4), C.McCoy (1). SO--F.Lewis 2, C.Stevenson, Z.Wilson 3, B.Nelson, J.Walton, C.Frawley, K.Castillo 2, T.Wagner 2, F.Lentini 3, D.Lyons, S.Burroughs, N.Zapata 2, A.Vega 3. BB--F.Lewis, C.Stevenson, Z.Wilson, B.Nelson, J.Walton 3, T.Wagner, S.Burroughs. BF--T.Sexton 25 (141), T.Barham (216), O.Santos 9 (267), C.Eppley 5 (169), S.Perez 11 (88), C.Bodishbaugh 9 (50), N.Struck 16 (188), P.Crider 8 (214), R.Kussmaul 6 (222), F.DeJiulio Jr. 3 (147), A.Diaz 3 (202), J.Romero 6 (116), M.Checo 3 (6), C.McCoy 23 (28). P-S--T.Sexton 83-64, T.Barham 4-3, O.Santos 33-24, C.Eppley 21-14, S.Perez 43-27, C.Bodishbaugh 34-25, N.Struck 68-40, P.Crider 28-17, R.Kussmaul 25-15, F.DeJiulio Jr. 4-4, A.Diaz 9-5, J.Romero 24-14, M.Checo 11-9, C.McCoy 78-53. T--4:55. A--5064 Plate Umpire - Tom Magier, Field Umpire #1 - John Grasso, Field Umpire #2 - Frank Iurilli