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Published On: August 6th, 2016

Matt Sanders, Bombers Broadcaster

The Battle Creek Bombers defeated the Rochester Honkers 9-3 Friday night at Mayo Field, sweeping the two-game series against Rochester. With the win, Battle Creek improves to 34-29 on the year and 16-11 in the second half.

The Bombers took the early lead and never looked back. Left fielder Daniel Jipping led off the second inning with a solo homerun over the left field wall to make it a 1-0 lead. After Jacob Blunt grounded out, second baseman Cody Sporrer hit a double and shortstop Daniel Patzlaff followed with a single to advance Sporrer to third. After Eric Gilgenbach lined out to third, third baseman Jarrod Watkins grounded a single into right field to score Sporrer to give the Bombers the 2-0 lead.

The Bombers went on to extend their lead in the fourth inning. Jacob Blunt led off with a single and Cody Sporrer followed with a single to advance Blunt to second. Both Blunt and Sporrer advanced 90 feet on a sacrifice bunt by Daniel Patzlaff. With one out, Eric Gilgenbach hit a three-run homerun to give Battle Creek the 5-0 lead.

The Honkers would score one run in the fifth inning and sixth inning to make it a 5-2 game, but the Bombers would get one run back in the seventh. With two outs in the inning, center fielder Dean Miller hit a solo homerun to give the Bombers the 6-2 lead.

The Bombers would pull away in the eighth inning. Jacob Blunt led off with a single. He advanced to second on a wild pitch and went to third on a balk. After Cody Sporrer struck out, Daniel Patzlaff blooped a single into right field to score Blunt to give the Bombers the 7-2 lead. Eric Gilgenbach followed by hitting his second homerun of the game to give the Bombers the 9-2 lead.

The Honkers would score one run in the bottom of the ninth, but Max Ritchie finished the game for the Bombers, with Battle Creek winning 9-3.

Nigel Ward picked up his third win of the year for the Bombers to improve his record to 3-3. Ward allowed two runs on seven hits in six innings. He walked one batter and hit two batters, but had a season-high five strikeouts in his fifth start of the year.

The Bombers now head to Wausau for a crucial two-game series with the Woodchucks starting Saturday night at 7:35/6:35 Central.