BIG TRAIN DEFEATS REDBIRDS 7-1 FRIDAY NIGHT Box Score

Corey Lane (UNC-Charlotte) got it started in the top of the first inning with a lead-off home run over the rightfield fence. Chris Taylor (UNC-Charlotte) singled to lead-off the second, stole second, and scored on a single by Nick Cleckler (Jacksonville State). In the bottom of the third, the Redbirds scored on a walk, groundout, and single to pull to within one run. The Big Train got it back in the top of the fourth on a single by Matt Long (Santa Clara), a stolen base, a passed ball, and an RBI single by Adam Plummer (Pitt-Johnstown). The Big Train added two more in the fifth to stretch its lead to 5-1 on a leadoff double by Taylor, an RBI single by Lane, and two throwing errors that allowed Lane to race home from first on a Cleckler single. In the top of the seventh, the game got interesting. Big Train starting pitcher Matt Wickswat (Santa Clara) had allowed just one run on three hits while striking out six over the first six innings. But in the seventh, he gave up a one-out single, a walk, and he made an error on an attempted sacrifice bunt to load the bases. Reliever Austin Hinkle (Coastal Carolina) came in and got the next batter to bounce to the third baseman who threw home for a force out. Hinkle then faced Jimmy Dishmey-Perez (Morris CC), the Redbirds' best hitter, who represented the game's tying run. Dishmey-Perez hit a ball that looked like a single in the hole between the first and second basemen, but Lane, displaying amazing range, gobbled it up and threw the runner out at first. In the top of the eighth, Long and Luke Adkins (Southern Mississippi) hit back-to-back triples to add two runs. Hinkle pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth, striking out four, to preserve the victory.

Bethesda Big Train (22-11) 1 1 0 1 2 0 0 2 0 -- 7 14 3
Maryland Redbirds (10-24) 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 -- 1 4 5

WP: Wickswat (2-0)
LP: Schurz (2-3)
Save: Hinkle
HR: Lane (BBT)
3B: Long (BBT), Adkins (BBT)
2B: Boyd (MR), Taylor (BBT)
Attendance: 40
Time: 2 hours, 52 minutes

Big Train Notes: Friday night's game was played at Joe Cannon Stadium in Anne Arundel County. The ballpark was built with the hope that a minor league team would adopt it as home. A huge orange and white checkered water tower sits just beyond the left field fence. A steady wind blew out to right field, making Friday night considerably more pleasant than the steam bath that was Povich on Thursday night.