Lancaster Gains Split on Right-Hander’s Effort
Justin Jackson made the most of his first chance to start a game on a professional mound.
The right-hander worked five shutout innings, pitching Lancaster to a 4-0 victory over the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs in the second game of an early doubleheader Wednesday at Regency Furniture Stadium.
Southern Maryland grabbed the opener, 3-1, on a complete game four-hitter by Gaby Hernandez.
Jackson (1-0) yielded five hits, did not walk a batter and struck out five in his five-inning stint. The only trouble he found came in the bottom of the first when Angel Sanchez’ fly ball to right fell behind K.C. Hobson for a double, and Bryant Nelson singled off the glove of first baseman Mike Jacobs. The converted infielder calmly struck out Jamar Walton and got Gustavo Molina to foul out to first base to end the inning.
The Blue Crabs did not advance another runner to second until the seventh when Gary Brown picked up a one-out walk off R.J Hively and took second on defensive indifference.
Lancaster scored quickly off Ian Marshall (3-1). The Southern Maryland right-hander walked Yusuke Kajimoto on four pitches. Jeff Kobernus singled just out of the reach of shortstop Eric Garcia, and Hobson dumped a single into center to load the bases. Josh Bell produced the first run with a sacrifice fly to deep right. Sean Halton yanked a double down the left field line for a 2-0 lead, and Jacobs scored Hobson with a grounder to the right side.
Chase Patterson homered down the left field line in the second for a 4-0 lead. Lancaster did not pick up another hit until Kajimoto singled with two outs in the seventh.
In the opener, Hernandez (2-8) limited the Barnstormers to four singles and a walk over seven innings. Lancaster’s only run was an unearned tally in the fourth as Kobernus raced home on a bad throw by Garcia looking to complete a double play on Bell.
Southern Maryland had grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second on consecutive two-out RBI bloop singles to center by Brown and D’Arby Myers off Bryan Evans (3-7) in the second inning. Myers added a leadoff homer in the fifth.
The series concludes Thursday evening at 7:05. Right-handers Terry Doyle (5-5) and Daryl Thompson (4-6) will square off. Fans may tune into the Barnstormers YouTube Channel, beginning at 6:45.
NOTES: The first game counted toward the second half…Southern Maryland improved to 12-14 while the Barnstormers fell to 10-16…The second game, a makeup from May 22nd, counted toward the first half standings…Lancaster finished 35-35…Halton hit safely in both games to extend his hitting streak to 11 games…Lancaster is 4-3 on the current road trip.