Trenton, N.J.- The Frederick Keys dropped the series opener in a two-game series to the Trenton Thunder Tuesday night, losing by a score of 4-2 at Trenton Thunder Ballpark.
Despite taking an early 2-1 lead, the Thunder scored a run in each of their final two innings of offense, handing them the series opening victory Tuesday night in Trenton.
Frederick plated home the game’s first run in the top of the first off an RBI double from Tervell Johnson (UT-Rio Grande Valley), giving the visitors an early 1-0 lead through a half inning of play.
Even with the Thunder responding with an RBI single in the bottom of the first, the Keys came right back in the top of the second with an RBI single of their own from Irvin Escobar (Bethune-Cookman). This put the Keys ahead 2-1 after two innings of play, following a scoreless bottom of the second thrown by Justin Needles (UNC Asheville).
After the Keys went scoreless in the top of the third, Trenton evened things up at two apiece heading into the fourth courtesy of an RBI double from Tanner Chun, making it 2-2 through three innings at Trenton Thunder Ballpark.
Wyatt Evans (Tennessee) tossed a scoreless fourth and fifth inning of relief to keep Trenton off the board in the middle innings, and despite his offense not scoring during that time, his three strikeouts kept the Thunder off the board entering the sixth, with the score still tied at two apiece.
After each side went scoreless in the sixth, Trenton took the lead on an error in the bottom of the seventh, giving the home team a one-run lead at 3-2 going into the eighth inning Tuesday night.
The Thunder added one more run in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI single from Nathan Archer, but Joe Zhu (Minnesota West CC) finished the inning strong by leaving two runners on base, taking the contest into the ninth with the Keys down by two at 4-2 in Trenton.
Despite Frederick remaining resilient all the way through to the end, Trenton finished the job with a 1-2-3 ninth on the mound, handing the home team its fourth win of the season Tuesday night by a score of 4-2.
The Keys conclude the two-game series with the Thunder Wednesday night at Trenton Thunder Ballpark, with first pitch set for 7 p.m.
