Lightning Struck by Walk-Off Bunt
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
|
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
WINTER PARK, Fla. – The Winter Park Diamond Dawgs pushed across the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning to hand the Leesburg Lightning a 4-3 loss Tuesday night in a shortened game at Alfond Stadium.
Winter Park struck first in the opening inning when Garrett Frost tripled down the right-field line to drive in Roberto Odor for a 1-0 lead.
The Lightning answered in the third. Matthew Dumas reached base and eventually scored on Charlie Keller's RBI groundout, evening the game at 1-1.
Leesburg grabbed its first lead in the fifth after Preston Murphy reached on a hit-by-pitch and came around to score on Dumas' RBI double to right, putting the Lightning in front 2-1.
The Diamond Dawgs responded in the sixth. Frost stole home on a throwing error after advancing to third, tying the game before Evan Taveras followed with an RBI infield single to give Winter Park a 3-2 advantage.
The Lightning answered one final time in the seventh. Hayden Gustavson singled and later scored on Murphy's sacrifice fly, knotting the game at 3-3.
Winter Park wasted little time responding in the bottom half. Canyon Marcewicz doubled to begin the inning and eventually scored on Skyler Jersey's sacrifice bunt, giving the Diamond Dawgs a 4-3 walk-off victory.
Dumas accounted for two of Leesburg's four hits, finishing 2-for-2 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Murphy reached base twice, drove in a run and scored, while Gustavson and Daniel Despaine added the Lightning's other hits.
Bryce Gluckman turned in a strong start, allowing one run on one hit while striking out four over four innings. Lucas Perez followed with a scoreless inning, striking out three. Andre Bilbao Jr. was charged with one earned run in the sixth before Cody Clymer took the loss.
With three regular-season games remaining, Leesburg's schedule consists entirely of meetings with the Orlando Snappers. The Lightning hold a 3-1 record against Orlando this season and will open the series Thursday at 7 p.m. at The First Academy.
Adam Rothschild (Susquehanna University)