The Lancaster Jethawks had a pair of three-run innings to climb out of a 4-0 first-inning hole and went on to win 9-6 over Inland Empire at The Hangar Friday night. Marc Wik homered for the second straight night and doubled while driving in three runs in front of a home crowd of 5,722.
Inland Empire rallied big in the first inning off of Lancaster starter Evan Grills. The left-hander gave up the four earned runs when he surrendered four straight hits to the middle of the 66ers lineup, and then left the game in the second due to an apparent injury after facing just 10 batters.
CF Derek Fisher got the Jethawks on the board in the bottom of the third when he grounded out allowing RF James Ramsay to score from third. Later in the inning, 3B J.D. Davis tripled in a pair and Inland Empire’s lead was trimmed to one at 4-3.
Wik kicked off another three-run outburst in the bottom of the fourth with his fifth homer of the season and Ramsay got it going from the top of the order again with a single that led to two more runs and a 6-4 Lancaster lead. They never trailed again.
Inland Empire plated a run in the top of the fifth to pull to within one run at 6-5, but Lancaster came right back with two more in the bottom of the frame. Likewise, the Jethawks answered back after a single run for IE in the top of the seventh with one of their own in the bottom of that inning to finish off the scoring at 9-6.
The win brought Lancaster to 5-3 in the second half and, combined with Rancho Cucamonga’s 5-4 extra-inning loss to High Desert, put the Jethawks into a first-place tie with the Quakes in the South division. Inland Empire is now 3-5, two games back.
SCOREBOARD
BAKERSFIELD 3, MODESTO 2
Tyler Pike (2-3) strikes out 10, two-run 5th inning is enough to earn a split with Modesto.
Pike, BAK, 6 2/3 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 10 K’s
Aaron Barbosa, BAK, 2-for-4, run scored
Jordan Patterson, MOD, 2-for-4, 2B
VISALIA 5, LAKE ELSINORE 3
Kevin Cron and Jamie Westbrook homer, Blayne Weller strikes out eight over 6 2/3.
Chase Jensen, LE, 1-for-4, HR (1), 3 RBI
Weller, VIS, W (5-4), 6 2/3 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 8 K’s
Nickolas Sarianides, VIS, S (16), 1 IP, 0 H, 2 K’s
Cron, VIS, 2-for-4, HR (17), 2 RBI
Westbrook, 1-for-4, HR (8), 2 RBI
STOCKTON 5, SAN JOSE 2
3 straight doubles lead to decisive three-run rally in the sixth for Ports.
Matt Chapman, STK, 2-for-4, 2B, HR (14), 2 RBI
Franklin Barreto, STK, 3-for-3, HR (7)
Daniel Carbonell, SJ, 1-for-2, 2 BBs, 2B, run scored
HIGH DESERT 5, RANCHO CUCAMONGA 4 (10 INN)
Rancho ties it in the bottom of the eighth, but High Desert wins it in 10 on a double by Seth Spivey.
Spivey, HD, 2-for-5, 2 2B, 2 RBI
Lewis Brinson, HD, 3-for-5, BB, run scored
Cody Bellinger, RC, 2-for-4, 2B, BB
Paul Hoenecke, RC, 2-for-5, 2B, run scored
John Richy, RC, 6 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 9 K’s
John Fasola, HD, S (2), IP, 1 H, 1 K
