Opening Day in the Italian Baseball League brings with it the first upset victory of 2015 with a 6 to 4 win by Tommasi Padova over UnipolSai Bologna in Bologna. Massimiliano Sartori proved to be the difference maker in this one with his 2 for 3 evening of which included a grand slam in the 5th inning off of the losing pitcher, Marquis Desh Fleming (6.0 ip, 5 h, 6 r, 5 bb, 4 so). Padova took an early first inning lead when they were able to cross two runs thanks to a sac fly off the bat of Sartori that plated Nosti from 3rd, and an RBI single through the left side of the diamond off the bat of Sciacca that scored Epifano. In the 5th the big blow came when Sartori was able to connect on one with the bases loaded, sending the ball over the left field fence for the 6-0 lead. However Bologna did climb back into the game with one run of their own in the bottom half of the 5th, and yet another in the bottom the 6th to make it a 6-2 game. In the 7th it was once again Bologna that lit up the scoreboard with 2 more runs to pull to with 2, but that would be it, as the southpaw Calero was able to bring home the victory with a scoreless 9th. The win was picked up by Carlos Quevedo with 5 innings of work on the bump, allowing 1 run off of 3 hits, and 3 walks… striking out 5. Game two is set for tonight in Padova at 8:30 pm.
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Under the lights in Parma it was Claudio Biagini that was able to bring home the victory with his 10th inning bases loaded walk off single up the middle that scored Noguera for the from third for their first ‘W’ of 2015. Parma got off to an early lead in this one with a run in both the bottom of the 1st and 2nd innings. However in the 4th the Godo Knights started their comeback which began with a solo shot off the bat of Sanchez. In the 5th the Knights were able to tie the game up at 2-all on a single up the middle off the bat of Meriggi. Things once again got interesting in the 10th when Godo took the 3-2 lead on a sac fly to center off that bat of Bucci that scored Gomez from 3rd. In the bottom half of the 10th it was Parma’s turn to cross a couple of runs, and so they did with on a Bennett single up the middle that scored Santolupo from 3rd. The final act of the match came with the basses juiced and Biagini at the plate where on a 2-1 count was able to connect on a single up the middle with the infield drawn in for the victory. The win was picked up by Petralia, while the loss was suffered by Ribeiro. Game two is set for tonight in Parma at 8:00 pm.
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Down in Rome it was T&A San Marino that was able to bring home their first victory of the season with a 4 to 1 ‘W’ over Nettuno2. Picking up the win out of the pen for San Marino was Rodney Rodriguez with 3 innings of no run ball, while it was Nettuno2’s starting pitcher, Norberto Gonzalez that suffered the loss. At the plate for T&A it was Duran (3 for 5, 1 run scored, 1 rbi) and Vasquez (2 for 4 with 1 run scored) that caused the most disruption for Nettuno2’s mound. This two game set will conclude tonight in Rome with a game time that is set for 8:30 pm.
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