SENATORS GAME RECAP

It was feast and famine for the Harrisburg Senators Wednesday night at New Britain. The Senators piled up 13 hits in Game 1 of a doubleheader against the New Britain Rock Cats, 6-2. They fell just short in the nightcap as the offense sputtered to just two hits in a 2-1 loss. The twinbill lasted nearly seven hours with a two-hour rain delay during the first game.

In Game 1, the Senators escaped damage in the 1st inning. RHP Jordan Zimmermann gave up a single and a walk to start the frame. Then, Erik Lis singled to left. Andrew LeFave came up firing to the plate and threw out Steve Tolleson for the first out of the inning. Zimmermann induced an inning-ending double play against the next batter to keep the game scoreless.

The Senators rallied with two out in the 2nd inning. LeFave tripled and Devin Ivany followed with an RBI single to make it 1-0 Harrisburg.

The Rock Cats tied the game in the bottom of the 3rd when Drew Butera belted a leadoff home run to knot the game at 1-1.

Harrisburg took the lead for good in the top of the 5th. William Bergolla blasted his first home run of the year, a two-run shot, to put the Senators up, 3-1. After the half-inning, rain forced a delay of nearly two hours, which robbed Zimmermann of a chance for his second win in as many starts.

A bases-loaded, two-out, two-run double by Roger Bernadina in the top of the 6th staked Harrisburg to a 5-1 lead. Ivany’s RBI double in the 7th finished the scoring at 6-2.

RHP Zech Zinicola (2-1) notched the victory, allowing a run in two innings of work. RHP Steve Schmoll worked a scoreless 7th to close it out.

In the nightcap, New Britain RHP Oswaldo Sosa was too much for the Senators. He worked six innings and allowed just one run on two hits.

Harrisburg RHP Shairon Martis allowed a run in the 1st inning, but tightroped out of a potentially big inning. Luke Hughes doubled and Matt Moses tripled to start the inning, but Martis retired the next three batters to keep it a 1-0 New Britain lead.

The Senators tied it in the top of the 2nd. Luis Jimenez ripped a leadoff double, went to third on a groundout and scored on LeFave’s sacrifice fly.

New Britain plated the go-ahead run in the 5th. Felix Molina drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. An RBI double by Jeff Christy scored Molina to make it 2-1 New Britain. After a wild pitch moved Christy to third base, Martis whiffed a pair of Rock Cats to end the inning with no further damage.

The Senators put the tying run into scoring position in the 7th inning thanks to a New Britain error, but couldn’t push the run across. LHP Ben Julianel struck out the side to notch the save.

Martis took the loss to drop to 3-2 on the season.

The Senators are 27-16 with the doubleheader split. New Britain is 23-22.

The Senators have a quick turnaround; the doubleheader finished just before midnight on Wednesday. The four-game series concludes Thursday at 10:35 AM. RHP Marco Estrada draws the start on the mound for Harrisburg against New Britain LHP Ryan Mullins.