Losing streak reaches three

​GAME RECAP (Grays at Redbirds) 6-25-2016

By: DCGrays.com Press: Blane Crouse

The Grays fell to the Redbirds 4-3 on Saturday night, dropping a heartbreaker after a valiant comeback.  The Grays are now  8-9 on the season and sit in fourth place in the CRCBL South Division.
For the first two innings both teams could not score and were knotted at zero after two innings of play. That changed when the Redbirdshit a home run in the bottom of the third inning. Neither team would scoreagain until the bottom of the eighth when the Redbirds added another run to their lead.
The Grays went into the top of the ninth down 2-0 and struggling offensively as they only had two hits.  CF JawanMcAllister (Pittsburgh) lead off the bottom of the ninth with a single, as did 3B Marques Inman (West Virginia).  With the tying runs on base C Evan Pace (SELouisiana) singled as well, loading the bases with no outs for DH Drake Hollingsworth (Alabama-Huntsville). Hollingsworth fell behind 0-2 then grounded in to a fielder’s choice, scoring McAllister for the Grays first run of the game. 2B Lamar Briggs (Jackson St) then drove in Inman with a sacrifice fly.
With two outs and the game tied at two, LF Luke Robinson (Lafayette) stepped up to bat and Denzl Chapman (San Diego St) was brought in as a pinch runner for Hollingsworth. Robinson singled, moving Chapman to third and bringing up 1B Tyler Thomas (Shepherd) with a chance to give the Grays alead. Thomas eventually advanced to first on an error by the Redbirds and Chapman came in to score to give the Grays a 3-2 lead. The next batter for the Grays was SS Eric Sloper (Shepherd) who grounded out to end the inning.
With the Grays leading 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth, RHPJacob Erikson (San Diego St) went back out to pitch seeking his third straight complete game. Unfortunately, the Redbirds scored quickly evening the score at three. Erikson was pulled for RHP Bryan Quillens (Eastern Kentucky) after he surrendered the lead. The Redbirds then scored one more run for a walk off win.
Luke Robinson had a nice day at the plate going two for four, as did Lamar Briggs who went one for three with an RBI. Starting pitcherJacob Erikson was impressive once again for the Grays as he pitched 8.1 terrific innings – another workhorse performance.
Next up the Grays will stay on the road and take on the Alexandria Aces Sunday in a doubleheader starting at4:30pm.