NILES, OH –Jorge Rodriguez tossed a stellar five innings in his second start of the year, and Leobaldo Pina’s home run helped stoke the offense as the State College Spikes got back into the win column with a 6-0 victory over the Mahoning Valley Scrappers on Thursday night at Eastwood Field.
Rodriguez (1-0) allowed a leadoff single to Willi Castro in the first inning, but after Castro was thrown out at second trying to steal, the right-hander yielded no more hits the rest of the way. The native Dominican gave up just two walks after the first, and struck out six total batters, including the last three he faced. Rodriguez also retired the last ten batters in a row before giving way to the bullpen.
Pina helped the Spikes’ (2-5) offensive effort by taking Scrappers (3-4) reliever Matt Esparza, who was making his professional debut, deep to left field on the first pitch of the sixth inning. The State College shortstop collected a total of three hits on the night and scored two runs.
Thomas Spitz started the Spikes’ scoring with a two-out single in the second. Casey Grayson followed with an RBI single in the third.
State College also took advantage of Mahoning Valley reliever Carlos Melo’s wildness in the late innings, scoring on bases-loaded walks by Craig Aikin in the eights and Cole Lankford in the ninth. The Spikes capped the scoring with a single by Ronnierd Garcia in the ninth.
Kender Villegas and Tyler Bray bolstered Rodriguez’s effort on the mound with four scoreless frames of their own. Villegas allowed two hits and struck out two batters over three innings, while Bray closed out the win with a one-hit ninth in which he struck out two.
Jose Zapata (1-1) started and took the loss after allowing two runs, one of them earned, on four hits and a walk over three innings. Zapata struck out two batters in his outing.
Grayson and Spitz also delivered multi-hit performances for the Spikes. Ka’ai Tom was the only Scrapper with two hits in the game.
Thursday’s game was also Mahoning Valley’s home opener at Eastwood Field.
Friday, State College and Mahoning Valley will meet for the second game of their three-game series. First pitch is set for 7:05 p.m. Right-hander Dailyn Martinez (0-1) will get the ball for the Spikes, while right-hander Leandro Linares (0-0) makes the start for Mahoning Valley.
After a road trip through Mahoning Valley and Staten Island, the Spikes return home on Wednesday, July 1 to begin a three-game series against West Virginia.
(STATE COLLEGE SPIKES RELEASE)
(STATE COLLEGE SPIKES RELEASE)
