SANFORD, Fla. (June 9, 2011) - The Sanford River Rats avenged their opening night loss against the Winter Park Diamond Dawgs (4-2) with a 6-3 victory.

 

It was all River Rats early on, but both teams ended up going back and forth, and down to the wire.

“Today wasn’t our day,” said starting pitcher Drew Packard (Villanova University).

 

Packard (0-1) suffered his first loss of the season as he went 3 1/3 innings giving up two hits, two earned runs, and two walks while striking out three.

 

The River Rats (2-4) were quick to take a 3-0 lead in the second inning. Catcher Kyle Foti (Flagler College) led off the inning with a walk. With one out on the board, Ian MacGeorge (Embry-Riddle University) hit a single into left field. Johnny Mazur (Florida Tech), who hit a double to right center, drove in Foti and MacGeorge. Mazur then stole third, and scored on a throwing error by the Diamond Dawg’s catcher.

 

“They came out swinging the bats,” said Head Coach Kevin Davidson.

 

Sanford made it 4-0 in the fifth inning when center fielder Alex Mendez (University of South Florida) hit a solo home run to right field.

 

The Diamond Dawgs battled back however, as they finally answered in the top of the sixth inning with two runs. Left fielder Ted Blackman (St. Petersburg Community College) was hit by a pitch to lead that put the wheels in motion. With one out, Michael Danner (Polk State College) singled to right field, moving Blackman to third. Catcher Austin Chubb (Florida Southern College) followed with a double to left center plating both Blackman and Danner. Winter Park pitcher Kevin Gude (Polk State College) struck out the side in the bottom of the inning to keep the Rats from responding.

 

In the top of the seventh inning, Alex Cruz (Georgia Tech) drew the Diamond Dawgs closer as he hit the first pitch he saw for a home run over the left field fence. Short stop Spencer Haynes (University of Central Florida) followed the Cruz home run with a single to center field. That ended up being it for River Rats starter Brandon Cowan (Lincoln Memorial University), who tossed six innings giving up three earned runs on six hits while striking out four.

 

“Early on I was late on his [Cowan’s] fastball,” said Cruz. “I just knew he was going to try to beat me with another fastball.”

 

Centerfielder Omar Cotto (University of Southern California) attempted a sacrifice bunt, but ended up bunting the ball back to relief pitcher Pat Fortunato (Rhode Island) who threw Haynes out at second base. Nonetheless, Cotto made up for the bunt by promptly stealing second base. Then, with two outs, Todd Hankins (Seminole State Community College) reached base on an error by the third baseman, allowing Cotto to advance to third base. With Danner at the plate in a one-run game, Hankins was caught stealing second base on a very close play.

 

“Those are two of our fastest guys on base, and Hankins has the green light,” said Davidson. “’He thought it was a good time to go, and I have no problem with the decision.”

 

The River Rats made their one-run lead a three-run lead by scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh as they nearly batted around with eight hitters stepping to the plate.

 

However, the Diamond Dawgs would not go down easily in the ninth. Closer Robert Stegbauer (Lincoln Memorial University) got the first out of the inning quickly, but then walked Cruz despite jumping ahead in the 0-2 count. Cotto kept the game going with two outs as he singled to right field, moving Cruz to third. Cotto once again stole second base. Blackman followed that with a walk, bringing Hankins to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded. Hankins, who was simply looking to keep the game going, nearly broke the River Rats hearts as he hit what would have been a grand slam, foul down the left field line.

 

“When I got to 2-0, I was looking for a fastball and I was just a little out in front,” said Hankins.

Hankins ended up working the count to 3-2, but struck out to end the game.

 

The Diamond Dawgs will hit the road as take on the Orlando Freedom at 7 p.m.