TRAVERSE CITY, MI- Two errors in the sixth inning by the Bombers buried their hopes as they fell 3-0 to Traverse City.

Tanner McNamara entered the game in the sixth with two runners on base and one out trailing 1-0. After striking out the first batter, he got Jake Arnold to hit a ground ball back to him but his throw to first was dropped by Stephen Krause. The next batter, Camden Traficante, hit a one hopper to shortstop Ed Johnson who had the ball ricochet off his leg which scored two runs.

It was a relatively quiet night for the Bombers bats as the offense recorded just six hits. Jacob McKeon paced the offense with two hits in four at-bats.

The Bombers looked for late life in the top of the ninth after a Harold Coll lead-off double and Stephen Krause was hit by a pitch. But they were stranded on base as a fly out and back-to-back strikeouts ended the game.

The Pit Spitters had 10 hits on the night and were led by their third baseman Christian Faust who went 3-5.

The game started as a pitchers duel between two Michigan State Spartans. Burrell Jones got the ball for the Bombers and struck out seven over 5.1 innings giving up just one earned run. His counterpart, Jesse Heikkinen outlasted his college teammate pitching six shutout innings giving up three hits as well as striking out three.

Traverse City used three relievers after Heikkinen departed and they combined to strikeout four over three innings and faced just four over the minimum.

The Bombers used three different pitchers and combined to strand nine Pit Spitters on base. Bombers catcher Sy Snedeker helped the pitchers get through trouble by throwing out three Pit Spitters trying to steal.

The Pit Spitters improve to 12-5 on the season and extend their lead over the Bombers in the standings to five games as Battle Creek falls to 7-10.

The Bombers have now lost four games in a row after a stretch where they had won six of seven. Tonight’s loss was also the first time the Bombers had been shut out this season.

They will continue their road trip in Kenosha as they start a two-game series with the Kingfish tomorrow. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m. EDT.

 

Written by Harris Eisenberg