Connecticut Defenders Live Up to their Name and Beat New Hampshire Fisher Cats 7-2 - AA, Eastern League

MLN Newswire - www.mlntherawfeed.com - Manchester, NH - Aaron Mathews went 2-for-4 and lined a two-out, two-run double in the bottom of the fifth inning to stake the New Hampshire Fisher Cats to a 2-0 lead, but the Connecticut Defenders scored six times in the top of the sixth inning to help them win the opener of a three-game series, 7-2, before 3,378 fans at Merchantsauto.com Stadium on Tuesday night.

New Hampshire (13-24) broke up a scoreless tie in the fifth inning against winning pitcher Garrett Broshuis when Anthony Hatch (0-for-4, R) reached on second baseman Brad Boyer's error, Ryan Klosterman (0-for-2, BB, R) walked and Mathews laced a two-run double off the wall in right field to give the Fisher Cats a 2-0 lead.

Connecticut (19-17) responded with six runs off losing pitcher Brandon Magee (0-6) in the top of the sixth inning.  Dave Maroul (2-for-4, 2 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R) led off the inning by lifting a towering home run, his fourth, off the roof of the Samuel Adams Bar and Grill in left field.  Boyer (2-for-5, 2B, R) doubled down the leftfield line and scored on a Ben Copeland (1-for-5, RBI, R, SB) single up the middle.  Travis Ishikawa (1-for-3, R, SB, 2 BB) walked, and Simon Klink (1-for-5, 3B, RBI, R) roped a two-run triple into the rightfield corner.  Eddy Martinez-Esteve (2-for-3, RBI, R, BB) ended Magee's night with an RBI single to center.  Martinez-Esteve scored when reliever Jamie Vermilyea yielded an Adam Witter (1-for-4, 3B, RBI) triple off the right field wall.

ADVERTISEMENT Maroul added his second home run of the night and fifth of the season with a solo shot off Vermilyea in the ninth inning that landed in the Poultry Products Dinner in the Den.

Broshuis (3-3) matched his 2007 win total by holding the Fisher Cats to two unearned runs in six innings.  The right-hander allowed four hits, walked two and fanned four.

Connecticut relievers Kelvin Pichardo, Justin Hedrick and Ronnie Ray each pitched a shutout inning to cap the gem.

Magee gave up six runs on seven hits in 5.2 innings to become the Eastern League's first six-game loser.  The righty allowed seven hits, walked one and notched four strikeouts.

 

For Box Score, see:  BOX SCORE

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