Fourth-year Duck hits game-tying and game-winning longballs

(Central Islip, N.Y., May 1, 2013) – The Long Island Ducks defeated the Somerset Patriots 3-2 on Wednesday night in the middle game of a three-game series at Bethpage Ballpark.

GAME AUDIO: Danny Perales’ sacrifice fly and Bryant Nelson’s two solo homers

POSTGAME VIDEO: Kevin Baez, Bryant Nelson and Matt Way talk about the comeback win

Somerset grabbed the early lead on Adam Donachie’s two-run single to left in the second off Ducks starter Matt Way. Long Island tied the score with single runs in the third and fourth off Patriots starter Brad Thompson. A sacrifice fly to right by Danny Perales and a solo home run to right by Bryant Nelson pulled the Ducks even.

The score remained 2-2 until the bottom of the seventh when Nelson led off the inning with another solo blast to right field off Thompson. The Patriots put the tying run on second with one out in the ninth, but Leo Rosales struck out Michael Wilson and Jonny Tucker to seal the victory.

Way did not factor into the decision but allowed just two runs on five hits while striking out eight in six innings. Connor Graham (1-1) collected the win after throwing a scoreless seventh inning. Thompson (2-1) suffered the loss, surrendering three runs (two earned) on two hits in seven innings of work. Rosales earned his first save with a scoreless ninth.

The Ducks and Patriots and Patriots close out their three-game set on Thursday night. Game time is slated for 6:35 p.m., with the Bethpage Ballpark gates opening at 5:35. The first 1,000 fans in attendance will receive a 2012 Atlantic League Champions pin as part two of seven in the 2013 Collector’s Series. MLB veteran Dontrelle Willis gets the start for Long Island against Patriots southpaw Graham Taylor.

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 watch live streaming video of the game on the Ducks’ official YouTube channel, www.youtube.com/ducksbaseball, with Tom Felice calling the play-by-play.

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Duck Tales: Bryant Nelson’s two homers were his second and third of the season, tying him with Danny Perales for the team lead. They were also his first two of the year at Bethpage Ballpark. The Ducks have now hit 12 home runs in the season’s first 12 games and have gone deep in eight of the last nine contests. Nelson clubbed 13 homers with the Ducks during the 2012 season…With eight strikeouts in the game, Matt Way set a new personal season-high. The eight punchouts were also one shy of the most by a Ducks pitcher in a game this year (Nick DeBarr, 9). Way struck out 13 Camden Riversharks batters while with the Ducks on May 16, 2012, just one shy of the franchise record of 14 (Mike Loree, 9/15/11).

 GAME DATE: 05/01/2013 Somerset Patriots 2 AT Long Island Ducks 3 YTD YTD Somerset AB R H BI AVG L Island AB R H BI AVG J.Tucker CF 4 0 1 0 .283 D.Perales CF 2 0 0 1 .265 L.Montanez RF 4 0 0 0 .185 R.Navarrete DH 4 0 0 0 .122 J.Fox C 4 0 0 0 .333 B.Broussard LF 4 0 0 0 .250 C.Smith 3B 3 1 2 0 .318 R.Strieby 1B 3 0 0 0 .222 E.Martinez-Este DH 4 1 2 0 .241 B.Nelson 3B 3 2 2 2 .213 J.Kroeger LF 3 0 1 0 .333 A.Bailey RF 3 0 0 0 .229 J.Holden LF 0 0 0 0 .500 R.Henriquez C 3 1 0 0 .125 A.Donachie 1B 4 0 2 2 .250 G.Suarez 2B 3 0 0 0 .304 D.Hennigan PR 0 0 0 0 .200 D.Lyons SS 2 0 1 0 .205 J.Skelton 2B 2 0 0 0 .130 B.Stevens SS 3 0 0 0 .200 M.Wilson PH 1 0 0 0 .286 32 2 8 2 27 3 3 3 Somerset 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 2 8 2 L Island 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 x - 3 3 1 2B--E.Martinez-Esteve (3), D.Lyons (1). HR--B.Nelson 2 (3). RBI--A.Donachie 2 (2), D.Perales (12), B.Nelson 2 (4). SF--D.Perales (2). SH--J.Skelton 2 (0), D.Perales (0). SB--J.Tucker (3), C.Smith (2), J.Kroeger (1), B.Stevens (4). E--C.Smith (5), A.Donachie (1), C.Graham (1). LOB--Somerset 8, L Island 3. DP--D. Lyons(SS) - G. Suarez(2B) - R. Strieby(1B). YTD IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Somerset B.Thompson (L,2-1) 7.0 2 3 2 1 4 2 2.25 R.Merritt 1.0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0.00 8 3 3 2 1 6 2 L Island M.Way 6.0 5 2 2 3 8 0 3.00 C.Graham (W,1-1) 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 5.69 I.Snell 0.2 1 0 0 0 0 0 7.36 E.Niesen 0.1 0 0 0 0 1 0 1.59 L.Rosales (S,1) 1.0 1 0 0 0 2 0 1.93 9 8 2 2 3 12 0 SO--J.Tucker 2, L.Montanez 2, J.Fox 2, E.Martinez-Esteve, J.Kroeger, A.Donachie, J.Skelton, B.Stevens, M.Wilson, R.Navarrete 2, B.Broussard 3, R.Strieby. BB--J.Tucker, C.Smith, J.Kroeger, D.Lyons. BF--B.Thompson 26 (80), R.Merritt 4 (4), M.Way 26 (65), C.Graham 4 (31), I.Snell 2 (15), E.Niesen (22), L.Rosales 4 (20). P-S--B.Thompson 88-53, R.Merritt 17-12, M.Way 100-63, C.Graham 13-11, I.Snell 11-8, E.Niesen 7-4, L.Rosales 17-10. T--2:28. A--4191 Umpires: Plate Ump - Tino Takori, Field Ump #1 - Tim McCaffrey, Field Ump #2 - Allan Reyes