The Florence Freedom rode a stellar eight-inning start from Jeremy Gooding to a 5-3 victory Sunday over the Traverse City Beach Bums.
Gooding allowed two runs in the first inning, but never allowed a Traverse City runner to pass first base in his next seven frames. He scattered five hits, while striking out a season-high 10 batters.
Trailing 2-0, the Freedom (7-13) got one back in the second. Andrew Godbold reached on a fielder’s choice, stole second, and came around to score on Josh Henderson’s RBI double to right. Henderson finished the day 3-for-4 with three doubles.
Florence took the lead for good in the third. Taylor Oldham and Austin Newell provided the runs, both reaching on singles. Oldham scored on Richard Seigel’s groundout up the middle and Newell came home on Collins Cuthrell’s single to left field.
Travis Weaver extended the Freedom’s lead in the fifth by ripping a line-drive home run to left and Isaac Wenrich added another blast in the seventh, a moonshot to right-center.
With the score 5-2 heading into the top of the ninth, Florence called upon Ethan Gibbons to get the final three outs. With two away, the Beach Bums recorded three consecutive singles to stay alive. With the score now 5-3 and the tying run on first, Gibbons shut the door by forcing Casey Rodrigue to ground into a fielder’s choice.
Henderson led the Freedom offense with three doubles, while Taylor Oldham also finished with three hits. Weaver and Wenrich both added home runs.
Jose Vargas launched a first-inning home run, while Nate Causey was the only other Beach Bum to record two hits on the day.
The Freedom look to ride the momentum from this series into a three-game set with River City, beginning Tuesday. First pitch of game one in O’Fallon, Mo. is schedule for 6:35 p.m. Central time with Brandon Bargas (0-1, 6.75 ERA) on the hill for Florence against Zeb Sneed (1-1, 2.31 ERA).
In Saturday’s game, the Beach Bums found their power bats as Steven Patterson hit two home runs and Brandon Thomasson’s drove in six in a 10-7 win over Florence.
The Beach Bums quickly jumped all over Stetson Nelson. The Florence left-hander had not allowed an extra-base hit in his first two starts, but the second batter of the game, Patterson, hit a home run to the opposite field. Traverse City knocked around two home runs and two doubles in the first three innings, taking a quick 5-0 lead.
After an 11-minute rain delay, the Freedom put themselves back into the game with a big fourth inning. Richard Seigel hit a single and Collins Cuthrell followed with a walk. Andrew Godbold reached on an error to load the bases and Isaac Wenrich drove in two with a single to right-center. A pair of run scoring groundouts from Travis Weaver and Andre Mercurio brought the Freedom within one at 5-4.
The momentum was short lived, as Nelson allowed two more runs in the fifth. The left-hander had a rough first outing in Florence, allowing seven runs and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings.
The Beach Bums took a 9-4 lead with a two-spot in the seventh, but a Taylor Oldham home run pulled Florence within four in the bottom half of the inning. The Freedom brought the tying run to the plate later in the frame, but could not bring home any more runs. With the bases loaded, Travis Weaver checked his swing at a 2-2 pitch and Seigel got caught waiting for the appeal. Traverse City forced a rundown and tagged Seigel out to end the inning.
After the Beach Bums added one more run in the ninth, Florence looked to rally late. Oldham was hit by a pitch and Austin Newell drilled an inside-the-park home run to centerfield, bringing the Freedom within striking distance at 10-7. Traverse City’s Andrew Brockett closed the door from there.
Oldham and Newell sparked the Florence offense with home runs, while Seigel and Godbold both had two hits. The Florence offense left nine men on base. Pete Levitt, Zach Wendorf, Matt Pobereyko, and Ethan Gibbons combined to only allow one earned run (three total) and three hits, while striking out seven in 4 2/3 innings out of the Florence bullpen.
Michael Shreves pitched five innings of four-run ball (two earned) and rode the Traverse City offense to the win.
From Freedom Communications