Long Island wins fourth straight game and sixth of its last seven

(Central Islip, N.Y., August 17, 2014) – The Long Island Ducks defeated the Somerset Patriots 8-3 on Sunday evening in the finale of a three-game series at Bethpage Ballpark.

GAME AUDIO: Highlights from the Ducks’ sweep-clinching victory

POSTGAME VIDEO: Kevin Baez, Lew Ford and Mitch Talbot talk about the win and sweep

Somerset took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first on a two-out, two-run single from Luis Montanez off Ducks starting pitcher Mitch Talbot. Long Island answered back with four runs in the bottom of the third inning off Patriots starter Matt Zielinski. RBI singles from Fehlandt Lentini, Lew Ford and Brandon Bantz, along with a run-scoring groundout from Brendan Harris, highlighted the inning.

The Patriots cut the deficit to one in the fifth on a solo home run from Brian Barden. However, the Ducks responded in the bottom of the fifth with RBI singles from Cody Puckett and Evan Crawford to increase their lead to 6-3. A Joash Brodin solo home run and a Ford RBI single in the bottom of the eighth capped the scoring.

Talbot (3-1) earned the win, tossing six innings of three-run ball, allowing seven hits and two walks while striking out three. Zielinski (8-7) took the loss, yielding six runs (five earned) over five innings on nine hits and two walks with one strikeout.

Ford and Bill Hall led the Ducks with three hits apiece, while Brodin, Puckett and Dan Lyons each recorded two hits.

Long Island hits the road for a three-game series against the Bridgeport Bluefish on Monday night. Game time is slated for 7:05 p.m. from the Ballpark at Harbor Yard. Right-hander John Brownell takes the mound for the Ducks. Fans can follow all the action online, with live streaming audio available on the Ducks official YouTube channel by CLICKING HERE.

Long Island will return home on Thursday, August 21 to kick off a four-game series against the Somerset Patriots. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m., with the Bethpage Ballpark gates opening at 6:05. The first 1,500 fans in attendance will receive Back to School Notebooks, courtesy of Dantona Industres. 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: Lew Ford and Bill Hall each recorded three hits on Sunday. It was Ford’s team-leading 14th three-hit and 40th multi-hit game of the year. It marked Hall’s first three-hit game and fifth multi-hit game this season…Cody Puckett and Dan Lyons each recorded two hits on Sunday. It marked Puckett’s 22nd two-hit and 33rd multi-hit game, while it was Lyons’ 17th two-hit and 19th multi-hit game…Joash Brodin’s solo home run in the eighth inning on Sunday was his sixth of the season and first since June 6 at Southern Maryland. The third-year Duck also recorded his 20th two-hit game, good for fourth-most on the team, and 26th multi-hit game of the year…Evan Crawford went 1-for-4 with a run batted in on Sunday. He is now 11-for-21 at the plate with two doubles, two RBI, four runs and four stolen bases in his first seven games with Long Island. The 26-year old has earned at least one hit in each of the seven games…With a RBI single in the fourth inning on Sunday, Brandon Bantz has now recorded at least one RBI in his last three games. During that span, the former big leaguer has two home runs, seven RBI and two runs scored…Ducks starting pitchers are now 7-1 with a 1.98 ERA (18 earned runs in 81 and two-thirds innings) over their last 12 games after Talbot yielded three runs over six innings. In that span, they’ve allowed 70 hits and 16 walks while striking out 50 batters. Dating back to August 2, the starters are 9-2 with a 2.00 ERA, allowing 23 earned runs in 103 and two-thirds innings…Three different Ducks relief pitchers combined to hold Somerset scoreless on one hit and one walk with three strikeouts over the final three innings of the game on Sunday. Ducks relievers have now tossed 12 straight scoreless innings since the seventh inning of the homestand opener against Sugar Land on Tuesday. In the last seven games, Ducks relievers have combined to allow just two runs over 17 innings (1.06 ERA) on 11 hits and four walks with 15 strikeouts.

 Game Date: 08/17/2014 Somerset Patriots 3 AT Long Island Ducks 8 YTD YTD Somerset AB R H BI AVG L Island AB R H BI AVG J.Dominguez 2B 4 0 0 0 .279 F.Lentini RF 5 1 1 1 .311 B.Barden 1B 5 1 1 1 .235 A.Bailey RF 0 0 0 0 .293 D.Ward DH 5 1 1 0 .274 B.Harris 3B 4 0 0 1 .278 C.Smith 3B 4 1 1 0 .298 L.Ford CF 5 2 3 2 .334 L.Montanez RF 4 0 3 2 .278 B.Hall DH 4 1 3 0 .237 T.Wright LF 3 0 0 0 .254 C.Puckett 2B 5 0 2 1 .277 C.Harrilchak CF 3 0 1 0 .232 B.Bantz C 4 0 1 1 .275 D.Espino C 4 0 1 0 .231 E.Crawford LF 4 0 1 1 .524 S.Kelly SS 4 0 0 0 .188 J.Brodin 1B 4 2 2 1 .249 D.Lyons SS 4 2 2 0 .271 36 3 8 3 39 8 15 8 Somerset 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 - 3 8 2 L Island 0 0 4 0 2 0 0 2 x - 8 15 2 2B--C.Smith (29), L.Montanez (24), C.Harrilchak (8), L.Ford (28). HR--B.Barden (6), J.Brodin (6). RBI--B.Barden (22), L.Montanez 2 (59), F.Lentini (51), B.Harris (34), L.Ford 2 (71), C.Puckett (57), B.Bantz (20), E.Crawford (2), J.Brodin (48). SB--S.Kelly (14). E--C.Smith (26), D.Espino (4), B.Bantz (4), D.Lyons (16). LOB--Somerset 9, L Island 9. YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Somerset M.Zielinski (L,8-7) 5.0 9 6 5 2 1 0 3.59 M.Solbach 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.20 J.Rincon 1.0 2 0 0 0 1 0 1.86 J.Lowey 1.0 4 2 1 0 0 1 2.20 8 15 8 6 2 2 1 L Island M.Talbot (W,3-1) 6.0 7 3 3 2 3 1 3.27 D.Arguello 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.00 S.Perez 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 D.Kopp 1.0 0 0 0 1 2 0 2.96 9 8 3 3 3 6 1 WP--M.Zielinski (1). SO--J.Dominguez 2, B.Barden, D.Ward, C.Harrilchak, S.Kelly, F.Lentini, E.Crawford. BB--J.Dominguez, T.Wright, C.Harrilchak, B.Harris, B.Hall. BF--M.Zielinski 26 (506), M.Solbach 3 (110), J.Rincon 5 (81), J.Lowey 7 (162), M.Talbot 27 (132), D.Arguello 3 (3), S.Perez 5 (22), D.Kopp 4 (99). P-S--M.Zielinski 113-71, M.Solbach 14-8, J.Rincon 16-10, J.Lowey 20-15, M.Talbot 81-54, D.Arguello 10-6, S.Perez 19-15, D.Kopp 20-12. T--2:45. A--5256 Bottom 3: Mound visit by pitching coach...Bottom 5: Mound visit by pitching coach...Top 6: Mound visit by manager Plate Umpire - Derek Moccia, Field Umpire #1 - Manolo Alejandro, Field Umpire #2 - Fred DeJesus