THREE TRIPLES FUEL BIG TRAIN 8-0 WIN THURSDAY
Box Score

After a five day lay-off, Cory Lane (UNC-Charlotte) was ready to hit. Lane led off Thursday afternoon's contest with the Rockville Express at Knights Field by belting a triple and scoring on a sacrifice fly by Nick Cleckler (Jacksonville State). Luke Adkins (Southern Mississippi) started the top of the second with a triple and scored on his college teammate Brian Dozier's RBI groundout. Express starting pitcher Billy Gross (West Virginia) nearly escaped two walks in the top of the third, but a throwing error by the third baseman opened the flood (ouch, I can't believe I used that word this week?) gates. Doubles by Adam Plummer (Pitt-Johnstown) and Dozier gave Bethesda a 6-0 lead. At this point, the umpire saw lightning and the game was delayed by 37 minutes. After the recess, Steven Leach (Jacksonville State) singled in the seventh Big Train run. All five runs in the third were unearned. Big Train starter Adam Redd (Virginia Tech) was unable to continue after the long break and was replaced by Chris Cullen (Michigan State). In the top of the fourth, Preston Pehrson (Texas) crushed a ball to the deepest part of the park almost reaching the building in right centerfield at Knights Park. Pherson motored into third on what would have been a home run in any other CRSL ballpark. He scored on a sacrifice fly by Plummer. That ended Bethesda's scoring, but outstanding defensive plays by Lane and Leach and solid pitching by Cullen, Austin Hinkle (Coastal Carolina), and Sammy Taylor (Vernon) shut down the Express. Only three Rockville players reached base. Mike Murphy (Maryland) collected both Express hits.


Bethesda Big Train (10-5) 1 1 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 -- 8 11 0
Rockville Express (8-7) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- 0 2 1


WP: Cullen (2-0)
LP: Gross (2-1)
3B: Lane (BBT), Adkins (BBT), Pehrson (BBT)
2B: Murphy (RE), Plummer (BBT), Dozier (BBT)
Attendance: 50
Time: 2 hours, 21 minutes plus 37 minute delay for lightning


Big Train Notes: Rockville starting pitcher Billy Gross shut down the Big Train June 18, going seven innings in a 2-0 Express victory at Povich Field... The June 29 game started with #29 Billy Gross pitching to #29 Cory Lane... We had pretty much everything but snow on Thursday at Knights Field. The game started under a cloudy sky at 5 p.m. At 5:47 p.m., the umpires saw lightning and called the game. While we waited, a brief thunderstorm pelted the field. The game resumed at 6:24 p.m. under a bright sunshine. By 7 p.m., a slight breeze picked up, and it was as fine a night for a ballgame as you could imagine. Then the clouds rolled back in, and it got almost chilly. But the clouds had a silver lining. No, seriously, they did. Fifteen minutes after the game was over, it began to rain again... Games at Knights Field start at 5 p.m. because the field doesn't have lights. The delay for lightning made finishing in daylight a challenge, but as the weather cooled off so did the Big Train bats.