Southpaw earns first home win with six strong innings

(Central Islip, N.Y., Aug. 27, 2013) – The Long Island Ducks defeated the Lancaster Barnstormers 3-1 on Tuesday night in the second game of a four-game series at Bethpage Ballpark.

GAME AUDIO: Highlights from the victory

POSTGAME VIDEO: Kevin Baez, Bill Murphy and Ray Navarrete talk about the win

The Ducks jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first against Barnstormers starter Rich Rundles. A bases loaded walk to Willis Otanez, a RBI fielder’s choice from Ryan Strieby and a run-scoring groundout off the bat of Ramon Castro highlighted the inning.

Lancaster scratched out a run in the fifth on Jerry Owens’ RBI single off Ducks starter Bill Murphy. However, Murphy, Erick Threets, Ian Snell and Leo Rosales kept the ‘Stormers off the scoreboard for the remainder of the game.

Murphy (3-14) earned the win, tossing six innings, allowing just one run on eight hits while striking out six. Rundles (3-5) took the loss, yielding three runs on five hits and six walks in five innings. Rosales earned his 16th save with a perfect ninth, striking out the side.

Ray Navarrete and Josh Barfield each had two hits to pace the Flock.

The Ducks and Barnstormers continue their four-game set on Wednesday night. Game time is slated for 7:05 p.m., with the Bethpage Ballpark gates opening at a special time of 5:10 for a charity softball game between the Suffolk County Sheriffs Department and the Suffolk County Emerald Society. The first 1,500 fans in attendance will receive 2013 Commemorative Posters, courtesy of Newsday. It’s also an Unused Ticket Day at the ballpark. Fans with unused tickets to a Ducks game earlier this season can exchange them for ones of equal or lesser value at the box office, subject to availability, to Wednesday’s game. For more information, please CLICK HERE. Right-hander Nick DeBarr gets the start for the Ducks against Barnstormers righty Brian Grening.

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. Those unable to attend the game can follow all the action live online, with streaming video and audio available on the Ducks official YouTube channel, youtube.com/ducksbaseball.

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Duck Tales: Bill Murphy earned his first home win of the season on Tuesday night. His six strikeouts were a season-high. His previous high was five, done on July 13 at Bridgeport. In his last three starts, the southpaw has allowed just eight runs in 19 innings of work (3.79 ERA) and has walked just seven batters while striking out 13…The Ducks bullpen combined for three scoreless innings of relief on Tuesday. Erick Threets, Ian Snell and Leo Rosales allowed just one base runner in those three innings (Olmo Rosario single) and struck out six batters…Bryant Nelson’s bunt single in the first inning extended his on-base streak to 16 games. He has also earned at least one hit in 13 of those 16 games. During the streak, he has three doubles, nine RBI and nine runs scored…With two hits in the game, Josh Barfield earned his 18th two-hit game, and Ray Navarrete picked up his 17th. Barfield has now totaled 27 multi-hit contests in 2013 while Navarrete has 23 multi-hit games.

 GAME DATE: 08/27/2013 Lancaster Barnstormers 1 AT Long Island Ducks 3 YTD YTD Lancaster AB R H BI AVG L Island AB R H BI AVG J.Owens CF 4 0 1 1 .339 J.Barfield 2B 4 1 2 0 .313 O.Rosario 3B 4 0 1 0 .271 B.Nelson 3B 4 1 1 0 .282 J.Thurston SS 4 0 2 0 .389 B.Hall SS 3 1 1 0 .260 R.Harvey RF 4 0 0 0 .249 W.Otanez DH 3 0 0 1 .191 T.Denker DH 3 0 1 0 .276 R.Strieby LF 2 0 0 1 .274 K.Russell LF 3 0 1 0 .206 P.Phillips LF 0 0 0 0 .228 D.Buller C 4 0 1 0 .258 R.Castro C 4 0 0 1 .255 A.Contreras 2B 4 1 1 0 .261 A.Bailey RF 4 0 0 0 .252 K.Howard 1B 4 0 1 0 .236 R.Navarrete 1B 3 0 2 0 .231 K.Binick CF 3 0 1 0 .270 34 1 9 1 30 3 7 3 Lancaster 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 - 1 9 0 L Island 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 x - 3 7 0 2B--T.Denker (25), J.Barfield (21). RBI--J.Owens (40), W.Otanez (8), R.Strieby (19), R.Castro (31). SB--B.Nelson (8). CS--J.Thurston (1). LOB--Lancaster 8, L Island 9. DP--J. Barfield(2B) - B. Hall(SS) - R. Navarrete(1B), A. Contreras(2B) - J. Thurston(SS) - K. Howard(1B). YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Lancaster R.Rundles (L,3-5) 5.0 5 3 3 6 2 0 5.14 J.Bennett 2.0 1 0 0 0 3 0 2.57 J.Dowdy 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 2.70 8 7 3 3 6 5 0 L Island B.Murphy (W,3-14) 6.0 8 1 1 2 6 0 5.53 E.Threets 1.0 1 0 0 0 2 0 8.36 I.Snell 1.0 0 0 0 0 1 0 4.65 L.Rosales (S,16) 1.0 0 0 0 0 3 0 1.65 9 9 1 1 2 12 0 SO--J.Owens, O.Rosario 2, J.Thurston, R.Harvey 3, T.Denker, D.Buller, A.Contreras, K.Howard 2, B.Hall 2, W.Otanez, R.Strieby, A.Bailey. BB--T.Denker, K.Russell, B.Hall, W.Otanez, R.Strieby 2, R.Navarrete, K.Binick. BF--R.Rundles 25 (229), J.Bennett 7 (29), J.Dowdy 4 (27), B.Murphy 26 (524), E.Threets 4 (70), I.Snell 3 (216), L.Rosales 3 (142). P-S--R.Rundles 109-60, J.Bennett 27-19, J.Dowdy 18-12, B.Murphy 94-61, E.Threets 17-12, I.Snell 20-13, L.Rosales 15-10. T--3:00. A--4455 Umpires: Plate Ump - Allan Reyes, Field Ump #1 - Hank Himmanen, Field Ump #2 - Frank Leparik