BLANKENSHIP’S TWO-OUT INFIELD HIT IN 7th LEADS TO 4-3 WALK-OFF VICTORY OVER ANGELS
WOODSTOCK — The Bats let an early 3-0 lead slip through their fingers with some errant fielding, but hung on for a 4-3 walk-off victory over the Angels at Merryman Field on Sunday afternoon. Righthander John Eisenmenger (6-2) picked up the complete game win while scattering 7 hits. Leadoff man Tom Klauba set the offensive pace with 2 runs scored while collecting 3 of the Bats 11 hits. The victory, besides giving the Bats some revenge over the 15-8 loss the Angels handed them on August 3, improved the Bats record to 8-6, while the Angels dropped to 3-9.
In the top of the first inning Eisenmenger worked around an error and a hit by inducing two infield pop outs and picking a runner off of second base to hold the Angels scoreless. The Bats countered with a leadoff single by Klauba who stole second and advanced to third when the throw bounced into centerfield. Klauba scored moments later when Eisenmenger stroked a single to left field. Besides giving the Bats a 1-0 lead, that hit also extended Eisenmenger’s hitting streak to 13 consecutive games, a new Bats single-season record. He eventually came around to score on a wild pitch for a 2-0 lead after one inning.
The Angels loaded the bases in the second after two outs but failed to score when shortstop Klauba made a spectacular backhanded grab on a groundball in the 6-5 hole and fired a snap throw to third baseman Tony DiBlasi for the force out to end the inning.
The Bats also struck in the second inning after two were out with singles by Klauba and Eisenmenger and a throwing error that plated Klauba for a 3-0 Bats lead.
The Angels took advantage of a short pop up behind second base misplayed into a hit and an errant throw to score 2 unearned runs in the fourth cutting the Bats lead to 3-2. Two more Bats errors in the sixth inning gave the Angels another unearned run and a 3-3 tie.
The Bats then went down in order in the sixth and the Angels went down 1-2-3 in the seventh inning leaving the score tied and setting the stage for the Bats second walk-off victory of the season. After Klauba led off with his third hit and stole second, the Angels walked Eisenmenger intentionally, and Pete Choe coaxed a walk to load the bases with nobody out.
Klauba and Eisenmenger were both forced out at home on short ground balls back to the pitcher bringing Earl Blankenship to the plate with the bases loaded and two outs. Blankenship then bounced a groundball to the shortstop’s backhand side leaving him unable to make a force play at any base allowing Choe to score the game-winning run. That hit gave the Bats their second walk-off win in their last three games.
The Bats (8-6) next game will be at 1:30 PM on Sunday, August 21 against the Lightning (10-4) at Behm Park in Grayslake, Ill.
BATS DROPPINGS
After starting the season with a 1-5 record in their first six contests, the Bats have compiled a 7-1 mark since then …. John Eisenmenger’s 13 game hitting streak during the season broke the old mark of 12 straight games held by Randy Harris (2004) and Ron Skrabacz (2009). The longest Bats hitting streak is 16 games, over two seasons, held by Ken Kozlik (2014, last 9 games, and 2015, first 7 games) …. Tom Klauba’s 3 hits gave him 18 for the 2022 season and 47 in the 2021 and 2022 seasons combined. This breaks the old record of most hits in two straight seasons (45) held by Earl Blankenship (2019 and 2021) …. The Bats three longest active consecutive games played streaks belong to Earl Blankenship (81), Tom Paul (49) and John Eisenmenger (33). After that, the next closest active streak is 10 straight games .… The Bats are now hitting .324 as a team with 132 hits in 14 games (9.4 hits per game). Last season the Bats batted .325 as a team in 19 contests while averaging 9.7 hits per game …. In their first six games the Bats scored only 3.87 runs per 7 innings, but have improved to 9.55 runs per 7 innings in their last 8 games.
