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Mark Sobolewski had a couple of big at bats for the Cardinals but it wasn't enough

Cardinals Fall Apart In Ninth, Lose 6-5 In Ten

Bourne scored three in the ninth and added another in the tenth to come back and win

July 7, 2007

By: Brett Brecheisen - Orleans Cardinals Intern

Orleans, Massachusetts – The Orleans Cardinals blew a three run lead in the ninth inning and fell to the Bourne Braves in ten innings, 6-5.  SS Matt Hall (Arizona St.) hit a solo home run in the top of the tenth to give the Braves the lead.  Orleans failed to score in the bottom half of the inning as they lost their third game in a row.

The Cards busted out of the gates to take the lead with a three-run first inning.  A lead-off walk by 2B Alden Carrithers (UCLA) was followed by bunt singles from CF Ollie Linton (UC Irvine) and LF Jon Gaston (Arizona).  Bourne RHP D.J. Mitchell (Clemson) fielded the bunt from Gaston and threw it over his first baseman’s head to move all of the runners up and score Carrithers.  RF Dennis Raben (Miami, FL) grounded out to bring Linton in and a base-hit by 1B Nate Freiman (Duke) drove in Gaston for the third Cardinals run.

Orleans DH Chase d’Arnaud (Pepperdine) singled up the middle to score Freiman from second in the third inning.  The run gave the Cardinals a 4-0 lead.

Bourne finally picked up their first hit and first runs off of LHP Craig Bennigson (California) all on the same play in the fifth inning.  After Bennigson walked 3B Addison Maruszak (S. Florida), CF Ben Guez (William & Mary) hit a two-out, two-run home run to cut the Cardinals lead in half.

That would be the final inning for the left-hander from Bennigson.  He finished his evening allowing five walks but only one hit in five innings.  The two-runs he gave up on the homer were the only runs he allowed in another solid outing for the left-hander from Cal.

“I really like the way Craig threw the ball.  We really needed some guys to throw tonight so when he got to 82 pitches, we didn’t want to push him to 90.  We had good guys in the bullpen tonight but we just didn’t get the job done,” Manager Kelly Nicholson said.

The Cardinals handed the game to their bullpen and they certainly did not disappoint.  RHP Clayton Shunick (NC State), RHP Sam Brown (NC State), and LHP Will Atwood (S. Carolina) all pitched an inning each and did not allow a run.

The Cardinals got some insurance for Christiani in the bottom half of the eighth and it proved to be crucial.  SS Brandon Crawford (UCLA) walked to start the inning and then proceeded to steal both second and third.  3B Mark Sobolewski (Miami, FL) came up two batters later and ripped a ground-rule double to right-field that drove in Crawford.

“I thought he was going to hit that ball out.  When he’s not going offensively he’s still really good at third base defensively,” Nicholson said about one of his stand-out Hurricanes.

Orleans closer RHP Nick Christiani (Vanderbilt) had a tough time in the ninth inning and Bourne jumped back into the game.  A lead-off walk and three hits led to three runs as the Braves tied the game.  Freiman made a diving stop at first to slow the Bourne rally and made a great throw from his knees to help the Cardinals get out of the inning without falling behind.  The blown save was Christiani’s second of the season.

“I really enjoy diving for baseballs and every once in awhile I actually catch one that I dive for.  I saw that ball off the bat and figured it would be a good opportunity to go for it.  Nick did a great job to get over there and give me a target to throw the ball to,” Freiman said.

The ninth inning came with a lot of controversy, however.  SS Matt Hall (Arizona St.) doubled down the left-field line with two runners on.  The ball was extremely close to landing foul and some confusion arose as there was not an immediate signal from the umpire.  The ball rolled into the crowd as Hall continued to touch all the bases, winding up at home plate.  After a meeting at home plate, the umpires determined that the ball was indeed fair, and that Hall should return to second.  They also sent the base-runner who originated at first back to third base as he had crossed home plate on the play, as well.

That didn’t sit well with Coach Nicholson as he ran out onto the field to protest the ruling that the ball was fair.

“He missed the call and he delayed with it.  It was obviously a bad deal,” Nicholson said.

With two outs in the top of the tenth, the Braves jumped on Christiani again.  A deep fly ball hit to left-field by 2B Bill Perry (Hartford) carried over the fence for a home run and gave Bourne their first lead of the game.

“The guy hit a fastball right down the middle of the plate.  We called for it outside and he just left it over the middle.  At this level, the hitters are going to capitalize on mistakes like that,” C Hampton Tignor (Florida) said about the pitch.

Orleans had one final chance in the bottom of the tenth inning when Sobolewski reached on a throwing error.  Advancing to second on a wild pitch, the Cardinals had the tying run in scoring position.  Tignor struck out, though, and after a walk by Carrithers, Linton grounded out to end the game.

“When you get in the 9^th inning and get to your closer, you can’t walk lead-off guys,” Coach Nicholson said.  “They hit the ball and you have to give them credit for battling back,” he added.

The Cardinals will look to bounce back when they travel down 6A to Brewster tomorrow.  The Cards have won both match-ups with the Whitecaps this season and look to make it three in a row over Brewster tomorrow.  Orleans has now lost five of their last six games and fallen to fourth place in the Eastern Division. 

W - Jordan Flasher (George Mason), 2-0

L - Nick Christiani (Vanderbilt), 1-2