Fishkill - In their first extra-inning home game of 2010, the Hudson Valley Renegades defeated the Auburn Doubledays, 4-3, front of a sold-out crowd of 4,701 at Dutchess Stadium. Diogenes Luis drew a bases-loaded, 2-out walk in the bottom of the 11th inning to end the game, and snap his team’s 3-game losing streak.
Auburn dominated the first half of the game shutting out the host Renegades until the bottom of the sixth inning. Doubledays starter Jesse Hernandez (2BB, 6SO, was dominant, throwing five no-hit innings before giving way to the bullpen in the sixth. Auburn first baseman Lance Durham gave his club a 1-0 lead with a solo shot in the second inning, his second home run in as many nights. Later, the visiting Doubledays took a 3-0 lead, scoring on a fifth-inning wild pitch, and a sixth-inning solo home run by second baseman Matt Johnson, his first as a professional.
Renegades starting pitcher Devin Fuller enjoyed his finest outing of the season so far, surrendering just three runs on four hits over six strong innings. Fuller did not issue a single walk, and struck out six Auburn batters, tying his season-high.
The tide began to turn in the bottom of the sixth inning, as Hudson Valley leadoff man Robby Price (2-for-2, run scored, four walks, RBI) singled with one out, advanced to second on a base hit by Derek Dietrich, and scored on Phil Wunderlich’s single. It remained 3-1, in Auburn’s favor, until the bottom of the ninth inning.
In the bottom of the ninth, with the Renegades down to their final out, Hudson Valley catcher Mayo Acosta lined a double to deep centerfield. Pinch-hitter Nick Schwaner singled into shallow right field, setting up a first-and-third situation. The next batter, Robby Price, continued his season-long knack for late-inning heroics, bringing the sellout crowd to its feet with a hard-hit double into the left centerfield gap. Price’s fifth double of the year cut the deficit to 3-2, as Schwaner advanced to third. With Diogenes Luis batting, Doubledays pitcher Drew Permison uncorked a wild pitch, allowing Schwaner to score the tying run. On the same play, Price was thrown out retreating to third, ending the bottom of the ninth, and sending the game into extra innings.
Aside from Wunderlich’s 10th inning single, the next inning and a half was quiet for both teams. In the bottom of the 11th, Auburn Pitcher Zach Outman quickly struck out the first two Hudson Valley hitters. The Renegades kept fighting, as Acosta collected his second hit of the day, late-game substitution Craige Lyerly walked, and Robby Price walked. The next hitter, Dio Luis, got an RBI the easy way by drawing a bases loaded, game-winning walk, scoring pinch-runner Brian Bryles, and giving the Renegades their eighth victory of 2010.
Hudson Valley relievers Merrill Kelly (2010 Draft Pick, making his professional debut), Steven Hiscock, and Austin Hubbard (winning pitcher, improving to 3-0 in 2010) combined for five innings of one-hit, scoreless baseball in relief of Fuller. The trio struck out five and did not give any free passes to Auburn hitters, as the victorious Renegades tied a team record by issuing zero walks in the game.
