‘Sox Lose Back And Forth Battle With Turks, 9-8
HARRISONBURG, Va.– An everybody hits, everybody scores affair saw 17 runs come across home plate in Charlottesville’s 9-8 loss on the road in Harrisonburg. The Turks (15-8) built out an early 7-3 lead which was answered back emphatically by the ‘Sox (11-12), who eventually gave it back up for good in the seventh.
The five arms that threw for the Tom Sox allowed 11 combined walks that translated to nearly half of the runs scored for the Turks. No lead was safe on either side, as this matchup had four lead changes.
The ‘Sox struggled initially to get the bats rolling in Harrisonburg facing Tim Tyler, one of the top arms in the Valley League. Charlottesville started Eli DeRossi-Cytron (Mount St. Mary’s),who made his first start since June 1.
After a quiet few innings to begin the ballgame, two runs opened the scoring for the Turks on a two-out, bases-loaded single through the middle off of DeRossi-Cytron in the third. He lasted three and two thirds innings, and allowed two earned runs.
In the fifth, Charlottesville finally struck against Tyler. North Carolina teammates Lee Sowers and Perry Hargett combined for two of the three runs. Sowers walked and was driven in after a liner by Hargett got past the diving attempt of Roman Trinidad in center field.
Hargett came home on an infield single from Preston Gamster (TCU),who then scored after a great display of baserunning. Gamster swiped a bag and then scored from second on a wild pitch, picking up two bases in an attempt to turn the tide in Harrisonburg.
The ‘Sox turned to Niko Janssens, who immediately surrendered four runs in the fifth. Bradley Link (Pensacola State)was the next man up, but only made it through one out before having to come out of the game. A five-spot in the fifth opened up a four-run lead for Harrisonburg.
This didn’t slow down the ‘Sox offensively though. They chased Tyler out of the game in the sixth after 96 pitches, and put up a four spot with two outs in the frame. Gamster unloaded the bases with a double, tying the game at seven. Brock Clayton came in to score the go-ahead run in the seventh to make it 8-7 ‘Sox. But once again, the lead didn’t hold through the bottom of the inning.
Tristan Dietrich threw a scoreless sixth but was tagged with one of the two runs that came in to score in the bottom of the seventh that proved to be the final lead change in the game.
Brandon Eldridge (Florida Southwestern)pitched the rest of the way once Dietrich was removed with one on and nobody out in the seventh. The first run was scored on a Jalen Evans sacrifice fly, and the other on a Thomas Bly RBI single.
The loss pushed the ‘Sox back under .500 just one day after climbing out of that hole. The quest to get to above .500 will have to wait at least another two games.
UP NEXT:
Tomorrow, the Tom Sox hit the road again for a matchup with the Covington Lumberjacks, who sit last in the South Division with an 8-12 record.
ADDITIONAL NOTES:
Prior to leaving the game due to injury, James Nunnallee extended his hitting streak to 11 games, matching the longest hitting streak for a Tom Sox player this season
Lee Sowers’ four walks were the most in a single game for a ‘Sox player since Ethan Gibson had four against Harrisonburg on June 9, 2024
Preston Gamster and Perry Hargett each have two multi-hit games in the last three games
Gamster’s four RBI matches Patrick Niehus’ four as the most by a Charlottesville hitter in a game this season
