5-run first inning fuels Fisher Cats’ home-opening win
Fans returned to Delta Dental Stadium to celebrate the 20th season of Fisher Cats baseball, and the New Hampshire (3-1) offense brought the juice in an 8-2 win over the Somerset Patriots (2-2) Tuesday night. Five of New Hampshire’s eight runs came in the bottom of the first.
MANCHESTER, NH – Fans returned to Delta Dental Stadium to celebrate the 20th season of Fisher Cats baseball, and the New Hampshire (3-1) offense brought the juice in an 8-2 win over the Somerset Patriots (2-2) Tuesday night. Five of New Hampshire’s eight runs came in the bottom of the first.
The Cats’ bats lit up Somerset starter Blane Abeyta right out of the gate, ripping six straight hits. New Hampshire third basemen Alex De Jesus got the scoring started with an RBI single, plating right fielder Alan Roden, then left fielder Gabriel Martinez bashed a two-run double to left, scoring shortstop Josh Kasevich and De Jesus. Catcher Zach Britton kept the line moving with a single, bringing in Martinez, and would later score on a passed ball.
After walking the first two batters he faced, New Hampshire starter Trent Palmer was lights out, striking out five and not allowing a hit in three innings. Righty C.J. Van Eyk struck out the side in the fourth. The Florida State product battled through a tough fifth, in which Somerset scored its two runs on three walks, a hit batter and a single. Van Eyk pitched the sixth before giving way to right-hander Abdiel Mendoza, who struck out four in two frames. Lefty Jimmy Burnette retired the side — all strikeouts — in the ninth.
The Fisher Cats tacked on run support in the seventh, when Martinez hit a stinger which cleared the left field fence. The left fielder’s first Double-A home run was the Fisher Cats’ first since opening day in Binghamton. Two more runs crossed in the eighth, as Kasevich drove in Michael Turconi and Roden on a single to center field.
