HIGH POINT, N.C. – The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs’ Sam Dexter punched an RBI single to left in the eighth inning to break a 4-4 tie and give the Crabs a 5-4 win over the High Point Rockers Wednesday night at Truist Point.
The win puts the Rockers at 67-46 on the season and 26-24 in the second half. Southern Maryland improved to 61-52 overall and 25-25 in the second half. The Rockers remain three games behind Gastonia in the South Division second half race with 13 games remaining in the regular season.
Each team put up a run in the first. The Blue Crabs’ Jackson Loftin led off the game with a single to left then scored on a double by Zack Racusin. High Point countered when Luis Gonzalez led off with a ground rule double to right before scoring on Ben Aklinski’s bloop single to right.
Max Viera’s lead-off triple in the second was followed by a sac fly from D.J. Burt as the Rockers took a 2-1 lead.
The Blue Crabs tied the game at 2-2 in the top of the third on Loftin’s solo homer.
Rockers starter Jake Gilbert exited in the fourth after loading the bases on a pair of hits and a hit batter. Gabe Klobosits came in from the bullpen and allowed a sac fly that put Southern Maryland in the lead at 3-2.
High Point got to Southern Maryland starter Jason Blanchard for a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth and took a 4-3 advantage. Drew Mendoza’s bases-loaded two-run double into the right field corner scored Aidan Brewer and Bryson Parks.
Daniel Blair relieved Klobosits in the sixth and yielded a solo homer to Jamari Baylor that tied the game 4-4.
The Crabs got to Rockers reliever Cam Cotter (L, 0-1) in the eighth to take a 5-4 lead. Following back-to-back singles by Alejandro De Aza and Brett Barrera, Baylor reached on a fielder’s choice and Dexter singled through the left side to score Barrera to give the Crabs the lead.
Endrys Briceno (S, 5_ put the Rockers down in order to earn the save for the second straight night. SMD reliever Cody Thompson (W, 4-6) pitched two innings and did not allow a hit while striking out two.
Aklinski and Brewer each had a pair of hits for the Rockers while Mendoza had two RBI.
Game three of the series is scheduled for Thursday at 6:35 p.m. at Truist Point. The Rockers will send righty Erich Uelmen (4-4, 3.49) to the mound to face Southern Maryland’s Shawn Semple (6-6, 3.75). Rocker fans can catch all the action on FLOBASEBALL.TV and on the MixLR app. Thursday’s game is the annual United Way CANpaign and all fans can gain free admission by bringing three non-perishable food items to the gate and redeem those for a free ticket.
