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Riverdogs 12 — Sand Gnats 2: In his pitching debut, the Riverdogs’ Nicholas Hutzell had a successful outing in a game played on May 31. The Riverdogs defense provided help throughout the night, with catchers Matt Nicholson and Mike Savory each tagging out runners at home on attempted steals by the Sand Gnats. The Sand Gnats rallied in the second inning, with runs scored by David Miller and Sam Whitaker. Whitaker also turned in a good performance on the mound. But Riverdogs’ relief pitcher Jack Fletchall was able to hold the Sand Gnats scoreless in the last two innings to secure the win.

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Pirates 10 — Mets 8: On May 29, the Pirates prevailed over the Mets in a nail-biter. The Pirates’ offense had a strong second inning, with hits from Aidan Christopher, Alex Lesser, Brock Taylor, Jessica Manning and Christian Rhodes, giving them a 6-1 lead. The defense played exceptionally well, led by shortstop Gray Adcock, catcher Christopher and pitcher Michael Behrens, who was effective over more than three innings of work.

Closer Casey Lauer finished the game with two strikeouts to his credit, as well as several hits.

Other Pirates contributing to the win with hits were Behrens, Adcock, and Gabe Terry.

For the Mets, Philip Koch has a single and Justin Trainor was 4-for-4 at the plate with two doubles. Harry Slonim did a masterful job pitching and Jackson Jost, Johnny Peterson, Jonathon Hoynes and Andrew Connelly all contributed strong fielding efforts.

Cardinals 10 — Rangers 9: The Cardinals kept their fans on the edge of their seats, holding on against a determined Rangers team on Tuesday, May 27. The Rangers made it interesting, chipping away at the Cardinals’ lead right up to the last at-bat. The Cardinals had a big first inning, with five players hitting singles, including Jake Deeley, Logan Nesson, Brandt Cole, Zachary Welch and Thomas Beddow.

The Rangers kept it close with Sean Brown singling and Matthew Needham adding an RBI single in the top of the second. That was followed by a strong pitching performance by Shane Doherty in the bottom of the second, who struck out two of the four batters he faced. The Cardinals’ Drew Turner added an RBI single in the bottom of the third, and Beddow added an RBI. But the Rangers roared back, with Sean Brown and Conner Robinson both doubling in the top of the fourth inning.

Cardinal Annie Ferguson struck out two of the four batters she faced in the top of the fifth, but the Rangers were not deterred. Harrison Coon and Matthew Needham both got their second hits of the game, and Thomas Conroy added another in the top of the sixth to bring the Rangers within one run. With the bases loaded and two outs, Cardinal Logan Nesson closed with a strikeout to end the game.

Cardinals 10 — Rangers 1: The Cardinals ended their series with the Rangers, winning 8-1 on Saturday, May 31. The Cardinals’ pitching staff allowed only three hits, with Logan Nesson striking out seven over the first three innings, and Matthew Livingston striking out five over the last three. Four Cardinals made stellar defensive contributions, including Grant Goodwin, Zachary Welch and Chris Comstock, who caught line drives to first, second and third base, respectively, and Annie Ferguson, who denied the Rangers’ Shaheed Chambers a huge hit with her catch near the centerfield fence to close out the fifth inning. Eight Cards contributed nine hits, including Ferguson, who had two, and Livingston, Nesson, Welch, Jake Deeley, Mike Maggio, Thomas Beddow and Brandt Cole with one apiece. For the Rangers, Sean Brown struck out three in the first two innings, and Jimmy Major struck out six over three and two-thirds innings. Major, Matthew Dassira and Matthew Needham all added hits for the Rangers.

Mets 7 — Marlins 5: Despite a terrific comeback in the sixth inning by the Marlins, the Mets came out ahead 7-5 in a game played on Tuesday, May 27. The action started in the first inning when Justin Trainor smacked a double and ultimately scored for a 1-0 lead.

Pitcher Nathaniel Scheinman proceeded to strike out two and made an excellent fielding play on a grounder to secure the final out of the inning. The second inning also brought positive results for the Mets with solid hits by Sam Madison, Johnny Peterson and Nicholas Armour — the final hit yielding two RBI and giving the Mets a 3-0 lead. For the Marlins, Charlie Bernicke made an amazing catch on a line drive blasted by the Mets’ Harry Slonim.

Johnny Peterson entered the game as pitcher for the Mets with a remarkable three up, three down inning, striking out all three batters on only 10 pitches. The fifth and sixth innings were tense ones for both sides. Dean Kern hit a solid triple yielding an RBI and the Marlin’s first run. On the next play, Dean stole home, bringing the Marlins within one. The Mets, sensing the Marlins’ challenge, went on a hitting spree by the three J’s: Joseph DePrez, Justin Trainor and Jonathon Hoyns, as the Mets added four runs.

In the final inning, the Marlins gave the Mets a run for the money with Lindsay Charters, Jack Rasmussen and Nicholas George bringing in another three runs for a final score of 7-5, but falling just short in one of the most exciting games of the season.