Offense leads way to complete four-game sweep of Blue Crabs

(Central Islip, N.Y., May 22, 2014) – The Long Island Ducks defeated the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 8-3 on Thursday night in the final game of a four-game series at Bethpage Ballpark.

GAME AUDIO: Highlights from Long Island’s 600th regular season home win

POSTGAME VIDEO: Kevin Baez, Jared Lansford and Adam Bailey talk about the victory

Long Island jumped out to a 3-0 lead with a run in the first and two in the second off Southern Maryland starter Ian Marshall. A RBI double by Cody Puckett, a solo home run off the bat of Adam Bailey and a run-scoring single by Fehlandt Lentini highlighted the offense.

Two more runs in the third on Bailey’s RBI single and Keith Castillo’s sac fly to center increased the lead to five. The Blue Crabs cut their deficit to three in the fourth when two runs scored on an error.

Dave Sappelt’s solo homer in the sixth brought Southern Maryland within two, but Puckett responded with a two-run homer to left in the bottom of the frame to increase the lead to 7-3. Castillo’s RBI double to left in the seventh capped the scoring.

Jared Lansford (1-0) earned the win, tossing five innings, allowing two unearned runs on three hits and three walks while striking out three. Marshall (2-3) took the loss, surrendering five runs on eight hits and one walk in two and one-third innings.

Bailey and Lentini led the Flock with three hits and two runs apiece. Puckett led the way with three RBI.

The Ducks begin a seven-game road trip on Friday when they head to Sugar Land, Texas to battle the Skeeters. Game time is slated for 8:05 p.m. at Constellation Field. Right-hander John Brownell takes the mound for the Ducks against Skeeters righty Matt Wright. Fans can follow all the action live on Long Island’s home for news, traffic and weather, 103.9-FM LI News Radio. Live streaming video will also be available on ESPN 3 by CLICKING HERE.

Long Island returns home on Friday, May 30 when they begin a three-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 Ducks are scheduled to welcome their 6 millionth fan through the gates on May 30, so be sure to arrive early and have your chance at being the lucky number 6 million. 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.

###

Duck Tales: With tonight’s win, the Ducks earned their 600th regular season home victory in franchise history. Long Island has an all-time record of 600-518 at Bethpage Ballpark. In addition, the Ducks are also 14 wins away from earning their 1,000th regular season victory in franchise history…Lew Ford extended his on-base streak to 18 consecutive games with a single in the sixth inning. That’s the longest by a Duck this season and the longest in the Atlantic League in 2014. Ford has also now hit safely in 10 consecutive games as well, which is one shy of Cody Puckett’s season-long 11-game hit streak…Cody Puckett’s two-run homer was his second of the season. His first came on Tuesday against the Blue Crabs and was also a two-run longball. Puckett has now collected at least one hit in 14 of his last 15 games and has reached base in all 15 of those games, giving him the second-longest on-base streak by a Duck this year behind Ford…Adam Bailey’s solo homer was his team-leading fifth of the season. It broke a tie with Ford for most on the Ducks. Bailey’s last homer came on May 9 at Lancaster. The outfielder has reached base in 11 of his last 12 games…Joash Brodin has now reached base safely in 13 consecutive games…Jared Lansford continued Long Island’s successful starting pitching in the series. During the four-game set, Ducks starters combined to allow just seven runs (five earned) in 27 innings (1.67 ERA), allowing 23 hits and seven walks while striking out 16…Thursday’s crowd of 4,144 at Bethpage Ballpark increased the all-time attendance at the Duck Pond to 5,999,478, which is an Atlantic League record. Long Island is now just 522 fans away from reaching the magical 6 million fan mark.

 Game Date: 05/22/2014 Southern Maryland Blue Crabs 3 AT Long Island Ducks 8 YTD YTD S Maryland AB R H BI AVG L Island AB R H BI AVG J.Mitchell RF 4 0 1 0 .209 F.Lentini CF 4 2 3 1 .283 A.Zazueta SS 5 0 0 0 .260 C.Puckett 2B 4 1 2 3 .306 C.Hankerd LF 4 0 0 0 .281 L.Ford DH 4 0 1 0 .371 C.Ziegler 3B 4 0 0 0 .239 A.Armenio DH,PH 1 0 0 0 .143 J.Opitz DH 3 0 0 0 .294 J.Brodin RF 4 1 1 0 .242 D.Sappelt CF 4 2 2 1 .357 R.Ruiz 1B 5 1 1 0 .214 J.Julio-Ruiz 1B 4 1 1 0 .282 A.Bailey LF 3 2 3 2 .259 J.Dziomba 2B 3 0 0 0 .071 K.Castillo C 3 0 1 2 .206 J.Bowden C 3 0 0 0 .265 C.McClendon 3B 3 0 0 0 .143 D.Lyons SS 4 1 1 0 .257 34 3 4 1 35 8 13 8 S Maryland 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 - 3 4 0 L Island 1 2 2 0 0 2 1 0 x - 8 13 4 2B--F.Lentini (7), C.Puckett (4), A.Bailey (5), K.Castillo (2). HR--D.Sappelt (1), C.Puckett (2), A.Bailey (5). RBI--D.Sappelt (3), F.Lentini (16), C.Puckett 3 (15), A.Bailey 2 (15), K.Castillo 2 (7). HP--C.Puckett (1). SF--K.Castillo (1). SB--A.Zazueta (1), F.Lentini (10). CS--K.Castillo (2). E--C.Puckett (4), R.Ruiz (1), K.Castillo (3), D.Lyons (5). LOB--S Maryland 8, L Island 9. YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA S Maryland I.Marshall (L,2-3) 2.2 8 5 5 1 0 1 4.82 W.Korpi 2.1 0 0 0 1 0 0 3.52 E.Morlan 0.2 2 2 2 0 1 1 26.99 L.Septimo 0.1 1 0 0 1 0 0 11.37 C.Manning 1.0 2 1 1 1 0 0 4.00 E.Massingham 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3.27 8 13 8 8 4 1 2 L Island J.Lansford (W,1-0) 5.0 3 2 0 3 3 0 2.31 S.Garrison 1.0 1 1 1 0 1 1 1.29 J.Lansford 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.00 J.Meloan 1.0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0.00 J.Accardo 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 3.75 9 4 3 1 4 6 1 WP--I.Marshall (4), C.Manning (2), J.Lansford (2). HB--I.Marshall (3). SO--J.Mitchell, A.Zazueta, C.Hankerd 2, J.Opitz, J.Bowden, C.McClendon. BB--J.Mitchell, J.Opitz, J.Dziomba, J.Bowden, F.Lentini, J.Brodin, A.Bailey, C.McClendon. BF--I.Marshall 18 (129), W.Korpi 7 (65), E.Morlan 4 (4), L.Septimo 3 (35), C.Manning 6 (42), E.Massingham 3 (45), J.Lansford 22 (54), S.Garrison 4 (34), J.Lansford 4 (44), J.Meloan 5 (9), J.Accardo 3 (49). P-S--I.Marshall 60-35, W.Korpi 29-16, E.Morlan 22-10, L.Septimo 13-7, C.Manning 20-13, E.Massingham 6-5, J.Lansford 101-63, S.Garrison 16-10, J.Lansford 12-10, J.Meloan 16-9, J.Accardo 7-6. T--3:20. A--4144 Plate Umpire - Derek Moccia, Field Umpire #1 - David Speranza, Field Umpire #2 - Richard Katz