Southpaw flirts with no-hitter in shutout victory

(Central Islip, N.Y., June 22, 2013) – The Long Island Ducks defeated the Sugar Land Skeeters 3-0 on Saturday night in the middle game of a three-game series before a past-capacity crowd of 6,516 at Bethpage Ballpark.

GAME AUDIO: Ben Broussard’s two-run homer, Josh Barfield’s RBI double and the final out

POSTGAME VIDEO: Kevin Baez, James Houser and Ralph Henriquez talk about the win

Long Island cracked the scoreboard in the first inning on a two-run home run to right field by Ben Broussard off Skeeters starter Adam Miller. The Ducks tacked on another in the third on Josh Barfield’s RBI double down the left field line.

That was all Ducks starter James Houser (5-0) needed to earn the win, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out five in six scoreless innings. The southpaw took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before serving up a single to Jeff Dominguez. Miller (1-3) suffered the loss, yielding three runs on six hits with two strikeouts in six innings. Leo Rosales earned his 12th save with a scoreless ninth.

Barfield and Joash Brodin each had two hits to lead the Ducks offensively.

The Ducks and Skeeters wrap up their three-game set on Sunday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 1:35 p.m., with the Bethpage Ballpark gates opening at 12:35. It’s a Sunday Family Funday at the Duck Pond! Prior the game, fans will be invited onto the field for an autograph session with the Ducks, and after the game, kids and kids at heart can take part in Kids Run the Bases, presented by Bethpage Federal Credit Union. Left-hander Bill Murphy gets the ball for the Ducks against Skeeters righty Greg Aquino.

Tickets for the game and all Ducks regular season home games are now on sale. Fans can purchase their tickets by visiting the Bethpage Ballpark box office, calling 631-940-TIXX or by CLICKING HERE. Fans unable to make the game can follow all the action live on the radio home for Ducks baseball, 103.9-FM WRCN, and online, with streaming video and audio available on the Ducks official YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/ducksbaseball.

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Duck Tales: With the win, James Houser has now earned victories in four consecutive starts. In that span, he has allowed just six runs in 26.2 innings (2.02 ERA), yielding just 18 hits and seven walks while striking out 22. The former big leaguer equaled his longest outing of the season with six innings of work, and his five strikeouts were two shy of his season-high of seven, done on June 12 against Bridgeport…Ben Broussard’s homer in the first was his seventh of the year and second at Bethpage Ballpark. The former big leaguer has now gone deep three times in the team’s last seven games. Long Island has now homered in eight of their last nine games, increasing their season total to 60 which is good for third in the Atlantic League…Joash Brodin earned his 20th two-hit game and 26th multi-hit game of the year. He leads the Ducks in both categories. Josh Barfield collected his fifth two-hit contest and ninth multi-hit game. He also added two RBIs for his second two-RBI and third multi-RBI game…The past-capacity crowd of 6,516 was the Ducks’ third sold out crowd of the season. Long Island also hosted sellout crowds on May 29 and June 8 against Southern Maryland. The 618 sellouts in franchise history are an Atlantic League record.

 

 GAME DATE: 06/22/2013 Sugar Land Skeeters 0 AT Long Island Ducks 3 YTD YTD Sugar Land AB R H BI AVG L Island AB R H BI AVG A.Godwin CF 4 0 0 0 .266 J.Brodin DH 4 0 2 0 .321 J.Dominguez 2B 4 0 2 0 .279 J.Barfield 2B 3 1 2 1 .324 A.Bates RF 4 0 0 0 .319 B.Broussard 1B 4 1 1 2 .336 T.Scott C 4 0 0 0 .266 B.Hall LF 2 0 0 0 .204 S.Moss DH 4 0 1 0 .311 R.Kiniry CF 0 0 0 0 .222 E.Perez 3B 3 0 0 0 .225 B.Nelson 3B 3 0 0 0 .263 R.Mitchell 1B 2 0 1 0 .192 A.Bailey CF,RF 3 0 0 0 .251 M.Rockett LF 3 0 0 0 .226 R.Henriquez C 3 0 0 0 .204 D.Ramos SS 3 0 0 0 .234 P.Phillips LF,RF 3 0 1 0 .261 D.Lyons SS 3 1 1 0 .224 31 0 4 0 28 3 7 3 Sugar Land 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 4 0 L Island 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 x - 3 7 1 2B--J.Barfield (7). HR--B.Broussard (7). RBI--J.Barfield (12), B.Broussard 2 (19). SB--J.Dominguez (5). E--R.Henriquez (2). LOB--Sugar Land 5, L Island 3. DP--D. Ramos(SS) - R. Mitchell(1B). YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Sugar Land A.Miller (L,1-3) 6.0 6 3 3 2 2 1 3.57 R.Corcoran 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2.22 J.Marshall 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0.89 8 7 3 3 2 4 1 L Island J.Houser (W,5-0) 6.0 1 0 0 1 5 0 2.76 E.Niesen 1.0 1 0 0 0 2 0 3.48 J.Lansford 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2.46 L.Rosales (S,12) 1.0 1 0 0 0 2 0 2.28 9 4 0 0 1 10 0 WP--A.Miller (3). SO--A.Bates 2, T.Scott, S.Moss 2, R.Mitchell, M.Rockett 2, D.Ramos 2, B.Broussard, R.Henriquez, P.Phillips, D.Lyons. BB--R.Mitchell, J.Barfield, B.Hall. BF--A.Miller 23 (148), R.Corcoran 3 (101), J.Marshall 4 (83), J.Houser 20 (175), E.Niesen 4 (132), J.Lansford 4 (102), L.Rosales 4 (106). P-S--A.Miller 83-54, R.Corcoran 14-9, J.Marshall 17-11, J.Houser 89-56, E.Niesen 17-12, J.Lansford 8-7, L.Rosales 14-10. T--2:28. A--6516 Umpires: Plate Ump - Aaron Freeman, Field Ump #1 - Frank Leparik, Field Ump #2 - Chase Edmondson