After winning the series opener on Tuesday night, the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs came out on Wednesday and secured a series victory over the Gastonia Ghost Peppers. It was a 12-8 thriller that saw the Blue Crabs offense explode once again.
While the Blue Crabs won it in the end, they trailed 1-0 in the first after Ghost Peppers leadoff hitter Jack Reinheimer hit a solo blast in the first. Southern Maryland was quieted in the second but put up a five spot in the third inning.
Andy Valdes (1-for-4) hit a leadoff home run to tie the ballgame at 1-1 before Jackson Loftin, Ethan Wilson and Alejandro De Aza (1-for-5) all reached to load the bases. With two outs in the third, Giovanni Digiacomo (4-for-5) cranked a grand slam to give the Blue Crabs a 5-1 lead over the Ghost Peppers.
Gastonia answered back with two runs in the third and one in the fourth to make it a one-run game at 5-4. But Southern Maryland gave themselves a cushion once more after Dondrei Hubbard (0-for-4) scratched a run across on an RBI groundout to make it 6-4 Blue Crabs.
The Ghost Peppers took a 7-6 lead after one run in the fifth and two in the sixth.
Southern Maryland left it late but got the job done with three-runs in both the eighth and ninth innings. De Aza spanked a bases clearing, go-ahead double to give the Blue Crabs 9-7 lead. While the Ghost Peppers nabbed one back in the home half of the inning, Southern Maryland blew the doors open when Brett Barrera (3-for-5) hit a two-run double to score Digiacomo and Hubbard. Pearce Howard (1-for-1) then looped a single into right field to put runners at the corners before Loftin singled in Barrera to make it a 12-8 ballgame.
Reliever Noah Williams earned the win after tossing 1 ⅓ scoreless innings. Andrew Thurman started, but gave up four runs on five hits in 3 ⅔ innings.
For the Blue Crabs, they now improve to 15-12 on the season and will go for the series sweep of the Ghost Peppers tomorrow night at CaroMont Health Park. First pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m.
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