Express Clinch North Division Pennant
Strasburg survived a wild extra inning affair in Winchester on Thursday evening, overcoming some bad breaks and jolting to life late, scoring 10 unanswered runs leading to a 11-6 win over the Royals in 10 innings. This win secured the 2nd regular season North Division Pennant for the Express in the past 4 seasons and guarantees home field advantage throughout the playoffs in the North Division bracket should they be fortunate enough to advance.
Jordan Patterson (Hood College) started and threw 5 great innings for the Express, although his final line doesn't reflect the quality of his performance (2 lost fly balls in the 5th led to 4 runs being scored). Patterson walked only 1 and struck out 3. Trey Fields (College of Charleston) entered in the 6th and, per the norm, was absolutely dominant...allowing only 1 hit and 1 walk while striking out 5 in addition to earning the win. Evan Rathburn (Central Missouri) slammed the door in the 10th, allowing 1 hit and striking out 2.
After falling behind early the sticks came to life late. Taking advantage of some Winchester errors, Strasburg scored 6 runs total in the 5th, 6th, and 7th innings while dropping the game-deciding 5 spot in the top of the 10th. Tyler Johnson (Eastern Oklahoma State JC) had a big night at the plate going 3-for-4 with 2 RBI and a run scored, including a double that drove in the tying run in the top of the 7th. Griffin Cheney (Georgia State) went 3-for-6 with 2 runs scored and 3 RBI, including a monster home run in the top of the 10th putting the Express up 5.
Rounding out the offensive effort was Garret Evans (FAU) who continued to see it well, going 2-for-6 with a RBI while Zach Scott (Florida Southern) had a double and 2 RBI. Bryson Horne (Columbus State) had a base knock and 3 runs scored in addition to a Chase Hall (Auburn) RBI single in the top of the 10th.
