Box Score

The Bucks fell short in their comeback attempt on Friday, falling to the Beetles 7-5. The Bucks were down 7-0 going into the bottom of the 7^th when they exploded for five runs, four of them coming off a Benny Roberts grand slam. The Bucks were shut down for the first six innings of the game by Beetles pitcher Jon Reed, scoring no runs.

The game was scoreless until the top of the 3^rd when the Beetles jumped on the board first, taking the lead 1-0. The Beetles came back in the top of the 4^th with three more runs. Kyle Kramp walked one run in with the bases loaded and then gave up a two RBI double to put the Beetles up 4-0. The Bucks threatened in the bottom of the 4^th but were unable to score. A single by Roberts and a Richard Gonzalez walk put runners at first and second. Kevin Kaczmarski and Sean Borman were unable to get anyone in but Freddy Villalobos singled to load the bases. The Bucks were unable to take advantage though, as Jason Hockemeyer struck out to end the inning.

After the Beetles put up three more in the top of the 7^th and took a 7-0 lead, the Bucks were finally able to put up some offense of their own. Villalobos walked to start the inning and Hockemeyer was hit by a pitch to put runners at first and second. Thomas Lindauer was able to reach safely on a bunt single to load the bases and Peter Leonello’s infield single gave the Bucks their first run of the game. Benny Roberts came up next and hit a mammoth home run over the right field wall, leaving the Bucks down just 7-5.

In the top of the 8^th, Brett Andrzejewski allowed the first two runners to reach but was able to strand both of them to keep the Bucks down just two. The bottom of the inning started promising with a Borman single but the Bucks were unable to do anything after that.

In the 9^th inning, Mikey Ramirez made his debut for the Bucks and shut down the Beetles for just one hit and no runs, giving the Bucks a chance to come back. Unfortunately, the Bucks were shut down by the hard-throwing Anthony Bazzani, who didn’t throw a single pitch under 90, reaching a high of 94. Davis Hendrickson was able to reach with two outs on an error but Roberts grounded out to end the game.

The Bucks take on these Beetles in the third game of a five game series tomorrow at home. First pitch will be at 6:35 pm, remember to check out waterloobucks.com for all your latest Bucks information, including a coupon for tomorrow’s game.