The Chillicothe Mudcats swept a doubleheader at Shaffer Park with two seven-inning wins over the Carroll Merchants on Wednesday night. The Mudcats won game one of the doubleheader, 5-2, and game two, by a final score of 6-1.
The Mudcats win back to back MINK League games for the first time since late May, and they are now 4-0 this season against Carroll. It’s also the Mudcats first wins in a doubleheader this season, and it means they go 2-2 in their two doubleheaders at home this week.
Chillicothe jumps the Merchants in the MINK League standings, with Chillicothe’s league record now sitting at 7-11, and their overall record at 8-11. The wins also mean that the Mudcats occupy a spot in the top six in the MINK League standings, which means if the season ended today, they would make the MINK League playoffs.
Here’s how both of the games at Shaffer Park played out on Wednesday.
Game 1: Carroll 2-5 Chillicothe
The Mudcats got started early in Game one, as Peyton Becker got on base with an infield single, and scored on a groundout from John Spoto to give the Mudcats the lead.
Carroll would tie things up in the top of the second on an infield RBI single by Jake McClure, but Chillicothe would take the lead back with an RBI single in the fourth by Jackson Crawford, as a pop fly that he hit popped out of the glove of Carroll’s second baseman Aidan Cizek. Carroll responded by swiftly tying it at 2-2, as a run scored off of a Mudcats fielding error.
But in the bottom of the fifth, the Mudcats flipped the switch. They scored three runs to take the lead for good in the frame, as John Spoto’s RBI double with the bases loaded scored two runs, and Sammy Cruz drove in the other run with an RBI single of his own.
On the mound, Mudcats starter Koby Linder was excellent, as he pitched the entire seven inning game, there second straight start where Linder completed seven innings on the mound. He allowed only two runs on four hits, and got out of multiple jams that helped the Mudcats to the first victory on the night.
Game 2: Carroll 1-6 Chillicothe
The scoring in Game two did not begin until the bottom of the fourth inning. John Spoto hit his second extra base hit of the game, a triple to right field with one out, to get things started. Elian Guzman would later get an RBI base hit into right field to make it 1-0 in Chillicothe’s favor.
Carroll tied things up at one run apiece in the fifth with a sac bunt by McClure resulting in an RBI, but the Mudcats would do their biggest damage again in the bottom of the fifth. They took advantage of two costly errors by the Merchants, one of them by Carroll’s starting pitcher, Luke Dutler, and used a bunt single by Rafael Calcano to score three runs and take a 4-1 lead.
Chillicothe made sure to get some insurance runs in the sixth inning. Sammy Cruz reached on a single and later scored on a wild pitched, and then Noboru Shinohara hit an RBI single to bring Elian Guzman home, making the score 6-1.
Once again, the Mudcats got a quality start from their starting pitcher. Caleb Bergman would pick up the win in Game 2 by pitching six innings, only allowing one run, and walking only one batter. He picked up his first win of the season, and Steven Escarcega would close the door in the top of the seventh with a 1-2-3 frame.
Up Next: Chillicothe will continue their homestead by playing a fifth straight game at Shaffer Park, hosting the 3-12 Nevada Griffons tomorrow at 7:05 p.m. It will be the only time Nevada travels to Chillicothe this season. Continue to listen to all the live action from the Mudcats this season on KCHI and kchi.com.
