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Cards pitcher Wynn Pelzer threw five innings tonight

More Solid Pitching And Defense Keeps Cardinals Hot

Wynn Pelzer and four relievers combined for a one-run night

June 26, 2007

By: Brett Brecheisen - Orleans Cardinals Intern

Orleans, Massachusetts – The red-hot Orleans Cardinals continued their stellar play tonight with a 3-1 victory over the Hyannis Mets.  The Cardinals have now won five of their last six, and continue to play better every night.

It didn’t take long for the Cardinals to flash their outstanding defense this eveing.  With runners on the corners and only one out in the second, a soft grounder to 3B Chase d’Arnaud (Pepperdine) was fielded perfectly as d’Arnaud started the 5-4-3 double play to end the inning and keep the run from third off the board.

The Cardinals broke a scoreless tie in the fourth inning with two runs.  DH Jose Jimenez (Tampa) knocked in RF Dennis Raben (Miami, FL) with a base-hit to right-center.  3B Chase d’Arnaud (Pepperdine) followed Jimenez. He beat out an infield single that scored 1B Nate Freiman (Duke).

Hyannis manufactured a run in the following half inning, the top of the fifth.  CF David Macias (Vanderbilt) led off the inning with a walk.  He then advanced to second on a fielder’s choice and scored after RHP Wynn Pelzer (S. Carolina) threw two wild pitches.

Pelzer made his second start of the summer tonight and threw far better than he did in his first appearance.  He threw 71 pitches, 48 of them for strikes, in five innings and only allowed one run.  Pelzer struck out four and gave up three hits.

“I thought Pelzer did a good job. He’s going to be in a starting role and know he is pitching every seven days and he is just going to continue to improve.  His command was better than his last outing.  He’s going to continue to get better as the summer progresses.  I was really pleased with the way he threw the ball tonight,” Field Manager Kelly Nicholson said.

The Cardinals got some good work from the bullpen once Pelzer was relieved.  Orleans sent their relievers out for one inning at a time, and with much success.  RHP Jason Novak (UCLA) pitched a scoreless sixth, RHP Kyle Kamppi (Ga. Southern) did not allow a run in the seventh, and RHP Ryan Perry (Arizona) put two runners on in the eighth, but got out of the jam to keep Hyannis from tying the game.

Orleans picked up an insurance run in the eighth when Freiman knocked in 2B Alden Carrithers (UCLA) from third on a fielding error by the second basemen.  Freiman was credited with the RBI, however, as there was only one out in the inning.  That gave the Cardinals a 3-1 lead.

RHP Nick Christiani (Vanderbilt) entered the game again in the ninth to save it for Orleans.  He pitched another perfect inning to pick up his second save of the season and has now thrown six innings in four relief appearances without allowing a run.

The Cardinals pitching staff allowed only one run which is the sixth time this season they have allowed two runs or less.  They are 6-0 in those games.

“We were able to keep Wynn at five innings tonight.  All four of those guys out of the pen needed to work tonight before the off day tomorrow so it just worked out great.  They all pitched well,” Coach Nicholson said.

For Pelzer, it was his first win of the season.  The junior from South Carolina has now thrown ten innings on the season and has an ERA of 4.50.

“It felt good.  Threw the ball well the time I was out there and just improved on the first inning I had a week ago.  I felt that I had a lot better command of my fastball tonight. It just ended up being a better outing for me all around. I’ll still get better next time out hopefully. My slider was good and I threw a few good curveballs,” Pelzer said.

The Cardinals pitching staff has now lowered their ERA to 2.41 this season.  With such a great ERA in the early part of the year, Coach Nicholson thinks a lot of the credit belongs to his tandem of catchers, Hampton Tignor (Florida) and Travis Tartamella (Pepperdine).

“I think we have two really outstanding defensive catchers.  The nice thing about them is that they are both freshman and theyre getting to know the staff and I think as they get to know the staff and the staff gets to know them that their relationship is going to get better,” he said.

The Orleans Cardinals will take a day off tomorrow before getting back on the field Thursday night.  That is when they will be hosting the Falmouth Commodores here in Orleans.  The probable pitcher for the Cards is RHP Michael Schwimer (Virginia).  First pitch is scheduled at 7:00pm.

W – Wynn Pelzer (S. Carolina), 1-1

L – Bryce Stowell (UC Irvine), 0-1

SV – Nick Christiani (Vanderbilt), 2