Game 1 vs. Bridgeport Bluefish

In a complete turn-around from the last road trip, the Sugar Land Skeeters have come out of the gates swinging...A LOT! In the first game against the Bluefish, the Skeeters had several "firsts" for the franchise. In the last 2 games, the Skeeters have put up 32 runs...more runs than they had the entire road trip when they went 1-9.

The first 4 innings did not have much action as the 2 teams traded hits and walks, not scoring anyone. The 5th inning is when the bats came alive for the Skeeters seeing 14 Skeeters step to the plate. Jimmy Van Ostrand & Ben Harrison started things off with the first back-to-back home runs in franchise history! The other 12 batters that inning combined for 7 hits & 7 runs...leaving 2 runners on base. That made it 9-0...good guys! The 6th inning sped by as both teams went 3 up & 3 down. After a lead-off double by Ofilio "THE HERO" Castro in the 7th inning, Octavio Martinez singled him in making the score 10-0 Skeeters. Nothing too exciting in the 8th inning as both teams traded hits. The bats once again came alive for the Skeeters in the 9th inning as they scored 4 more runs on 3 hits...sending 7 batters to the dish. Manager Gary Gaetti left Ryan McKeller in for the 9th inning in hopes of him getting the first complete game shutout in franchise history but it was not meant to be as he gave up 2 runs on 2 hits & a hit by pitch. He did however get the win after Will Startup came in with 1 out to end the game. The final score was 14-2...SKEETERS WIN!!!

Jason "BIG MAN" Botts ends his consecutive game hit streak at 6 as he gets the Golden Sombrero (0-6) as he struck out 4 times in the game. Not the most glorious "first" but definitely a franchise first to add to the evening!

Van Ostrand (3), Harrison (5) & Locke (2) all had home runs on the evening. Pressley, Locke, Van Ostrand, Martinez, Suarez, & Castro all have mini consecutive game hit streaks at 2, Harrison is and 3 games, and Bubba Bell extended his to 6 consecutive games with a hit...the 2nd time he has done that this season.

With this win, the Skeeters improve their record to 8-13, winning the last 3 games they played. With the help of the York Revolution beating the Lancaster Barnstormers, and the Long Island Ducks beating the Somerset Patriots, the Skeeters are 4 games behind 1st place, still holding on to 3rd place in the division. 

The 2nd game of the series is scheduled for tomorrow at 5:05pm local time.