BARNSTORMERS TRIPPED UP IN EXTRA INNINGS

The New Britain Bees ran out of hits by the sixth inning, but that did not prevent them from rallying past the Lancaster Barnstormers in extra innings Thursday evening.

New Britain scored an unearned run in the top of the ninth and built a two-run inning in the tenth for a 7-5 victory at Clipper Magazine Stadium.

For the second straight night, the Barnstormers and Bees were held up by rain and opted to play a single, nine-inning game instead of a planned doubleheader.

Lancaster took a 5-4 lead into the top of the ninth and summoned closer Cody Eppley.  The right-hander got a ground ball out of Ryan Jackson leading off the inning, but new shortstop Gift Ngoepe made a low throw which first baseman which first baseman Andrew Aplin could not scoop.  Bijan Rademacher drew a walk to move Jackson to second.  He worked to third on a fly ball by Jason Rogers and scored when Mike Carp also flied to Darian Sandford in center.

In the tenth with Jared James sent to second base, Bryan Harper (0-4) issued a wild pitch and walked the first two batters he faced to load the bases.  Rando Moreno and pinch hitter Jonathan Galvez lifted consecutive sacrifice flies for the 7-5 lead.

Jim Fuller (4-1) pitched his second straight perfect inning to nail down the win.

New Britain took an early 2-0 lead on an unearned run in the first and Ryan Jackson’s two-out RBI single to left center in the second.

The Barnstormers were unable to tie the game until the fifth when Caleb Gindl drilled a two-run double to right center.

The tie did not last long.  Zach Collier slugged a leadoff homer to right in the sixth.  Moreno singled to center, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored when Jackson rolled his fourth hit of the night down the first base line.

Josh Bell hit a solo homer to right, and Melvin Mercedes singled home Ngoepe, who had doubled, again tying the game in the sixth.

Walks to Anderson De La Rosa and Ngoepe set the stage for the Barnstormers to take the lead in the eighth.  Mercedes laced a single into right, and pinch runner Zach Shank was able to score the lead run when the ball skipped past Bijan Rademacher.

The Barnstormers host the Long Island Ducks on Friday.  Left-hander Nate Reed (1-2) will square off against right-hander Joe Iorio (5-1).  Fans may tune into the Barnstormers YouTube Channel, beginning at 6:45.

NOTES:  Aplin extended his hitting streak to 19 games with a ground single into right in the third inning…He is one shy of the league record…Gindl is 21-for-24 driving in runners from third base with fewer than two outs…Mercedes had his first three-hit game of the season…Scott Shuman pitched his 10^th consecutive scoreless inning…Matt Marksberry has thrown 10.1 straight scoreless innings.