TRENTON, N.J. – Luis Aviles smashed his team-leading third home run of the season for the State College Spikes but, despite erasing a 4-0 deficit early, the Spikes fell to the Trenton Thunder, 13-6, in the concluding game of a three-game set at Trenton Thunder Ballpark on Thursday night.
Aviles, the Tulane product who hit three home runs for the Spikes (6-5 2nd Half) in the second half of last year’s Major League Baseball Draft League season, sent a 1-0 pitch from Trenton (5-5 2nd Half) reliever John Gilreath off the top of the left-field wall in the fifth inning. The Palmetto Bay, Florida native currently leads the MLB Draft League in second-half slugging percentage with a .767 mark.
Down after allowing four runs in the second inning, the Spikes surged back starting with Peyton Harden’s RBI groundout in the third. In the fourth inning, State College notched three straight singles to start the frame followed by a with a Ryan Guardino sacrifice fly to make it 4-2.
After a Jesse Fonteboa walk, Josh Leslie then capped the flurry with a bases-clearing double to give the Spikes a 5-4 lead.
However, Trenton took the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth. With runners on second and third and one out, a swinging third strike from Justin Guerrera delivered by State College starter Marv Guarin (0-1 2nd Half) went in the dirt. Instead of firing to first, Spikes catcher Aviles caught Angel Mendoza in a rundown between third and home. Mendoza was ruled to have avoided his tag, though, scoring the tying run.
Anthony Fontana tripled in two more runs one batter later, and after Aviles’s homer, the Thunder followed with a five-run sixth to put the game away.
Guarin took the loss in his Spikes debut after being charged with seven runs on four hits, five walks and a hit batsman over 3 1/3 innings. The right-hander from Pacific also notched six strikeouts in the effort.
Gilreath picked up the win for the Thunder with two innings of one-run relief, allowing Aviles’s homer and two walks while striking out a total of four batters. David Stiehl (1) logged three scoreless innings, yielding one hit and striking out six batters, for the save.
The Spikes now head across the breadth of the league to West Virginia to start a three-game series with the MLB Draft League second half-leading Black Bears on Friday night at 7 p.m. atop the artificial turf of Monongalia County Ballpark in Granville. State College will send right-hander Jackson Lindley (0-0 2nd Half) to the mound against an as yet unnamed West Virginia starter.
Following the road trip, the Spikes will be home on Tuesday, July 25 to face the Williamsport Crosscutters for a 6:35 p.m. Christmas in July matchup featuring Jared Box Night, where fans can bring an unwrapped gift for The Jared Box Project for $2 off their ticket, or mention Jared Box when purchasing their ticket at the Spikes Ticket Office or by phone to have $2 of their ticket purchase donated by the Spikes to The Jared Box Project.
Then on Wednesday, July 26, it’s a 12:05 p.m. start for the Spikes and Crosscutters on Super Splash Day, where the ballpark goes wet and wild as the Geisinger Kids Zone turns into the Splash Zone, and fans get enjoy lunchtime at the ballpark with half-price wine for fans during the Wine Wednesday happy hour presented by Seven Mountains Wine Cellars.
Tickets for the July 25-26 home games, as well as every game remaining on the second half of the Spikes’ largest regular season home schedule in franchise history, are available now. Tickets can be purchased by calling (814) 272-1711 or by visiting the Spikes Ticket Office from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Fans can also buy and download single-game tickets, and view the full 2023 promotional schedule, by visiting StateCollegeSpikes.com.
More ticket packages, including Flex Books and an array of group and hospitality options for the 2023 season, are currently on sale by calling the Spikes at (814) 272-1711. Additional information on all club ticketing options, as well as team news and schedule info, can be viewed at StateCollegeSpikes.com.
Catch all the action of the Spikes’ game on Friday via the Spikes Radio Network presented by Penn State Sports Medicine, Official Healthcare Provider of Penn State Athletics with Joe Putnam on the call. The broadcast starts with Spikes Live! presented by Mount Nittany Health, on the air from Monongalia County Ballpark starting at approximately 6:45 p.m.
The game can be viewed worldwide on the MLB Draft League streaming platform at MLBDraftLeague.com/streaming, along with the “Listen Live” link on StateCollegeSpikes.com and the TuneIn Radio app.
