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July 18, 2005
WV Power Climbs above .500 with 8–5 Win over Hagerstown
by Grant Traylor
Huntington News Network Sportswriter
Hagerstown, MD (HNN) –The West Virginia Power climbed above the .500 mark for the first time in history following Sunday's 8–5 victory over Hagerstown in a 14–inning marathon.
The Power has now won four straight games and six of seven in climbing to a 12–11 record in the second half of the season.
West Virginia scored three runs in the top of the 14th inning, Sunday, July 17, 2005 after pitcher Jose Gomez lost his focus in the long contest.
Following a walk to Josh Murray, Gomez registered a pair of balks while Adam Mannon was batting, putting Murray at third with one out.
Murray also walked and Alcides Escobar followed with a single to score the game–winning run.
Murray and Escobar moved into scoring position following a groundout by Hernan Iribarren and came home on Ryan Braun's two–out single into right field.
Justin Barnes came on and shut the Suns down in the bottom half of the inning to earn the victory. Barnes went seven innings, giving up three hits and one earned run while striking out six and walking two. His record improved to 6–1 on the season.
Consequently, Barnes replaced Brian Montalbo in the eighth inning and gave up the run that tied the game on a groundout by Corey Coles after the Power had taken the lead on Mannon's home run in the top half of the inning.
Following the game–tying run, Barnes gave up just two hits over seven innings, which is almost unheard of for a late–game reliever.
West Virginia never trailed in the contest and jumped out to a 3–0 lead after two innings.
In the first inning, Iribarren hit his third home run of the year to give the Power a 1–0 lead before a pair of sacrifice flies by Mannon and Escobar gave the Power its three–run cushion after two innings.
Three errors by West Virginia in the third inning led to three unearned runs off of Power starter Mark Rogers. Mike Carp made the Power regret the trio of mistakes by hitting a two–run blast to tie the game.
Braun scored the go–ahead run in the fifth inning after Hagerstown pitcher Brandon Nall unleashed a wild pitch. Nall also knocked Hasan Rasheed out of the game after hitting him in the head with a pitch one batter earlier.
Braun went 2–for–6 with two RBI and a run scored in the victory while Mannon went 1–for–4 with two RBI and two runs scored.
After picking up his first win of the season in his last outing, Rogers came back with his second strong start, allowing five hits and three runs–none earned–while walking five and striking out four.
The game took 4 hours and 54 minutes to complete as extra innings and overcast skies littered the Hagerstown area. The game was also lengthened due to 19 walks and six wild pitches along with five errors.
West Virginia (12–11) will now come home for seven games with a solid chance of improving in the North division standings.
They will play two games against Hagerstown in Charleston to complete the four game home–and–home series before hosting Lakewood for five games.
Ironically, Lakewood and Hagerstown are the teams that West Virginia has flourished against lately.
West Virginia won the finale against Hagerstown on July 10 before winning three of four over Lakewood and then two straight at Hagerstown.
The only loss was a rain–shortened 7–6 loss at Lakewood in which Lakewood scored four runs in the final inning before play was stopped due to the inclement weather.
All games will take place at Appalachian Power Park with 7:05 p.m. start times each evening.
