(Trenton, NJ) – A Sunday night crowd of 3,954 made its presence felt at Trenton Thunder Ballpark when their Thunder scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth to tie the Black Bears and force sudden death. In the first installment of the new rule for 2022 in Trenton, the Thunder opted to hit, needing just one run with an automatic runner at first base to start the half inning. Unfortunately, **Grayson Thurman **rebounded with three quick outs after blowing the initial save, giving West Virginia the de facto series win in the third and deciding game of the series.
The first four innings took less than an hour as starters **Christian Capuano **and **Patrick Miner **both worked relentlessly and efficiently. After working around a single in his first two innings, Capuano got burned when **Maddux Houghton **continued the third with a base hit and **Ryan Hernandez **blasted his tenth home run to dead center for a 2-0 Black Bears lead.
Later in the fifth, number nine hitter **Anthony Stehlin **singled off Capuano and got to second after a walk by Turner Hill. On the very first pitch, Houghton singled home the third run, keeping the score at 3-0 as Miner carved up the Thunder lineup over his first six innings while never allowing any of their three baserunners to advance past first.
In the bottom of the seventh, **Christian Merriwether **collected his second hit with a leadoff double and **Dilan Espinal **singled for the second time to bring up the tying run. With one out, **Damian Yenzi’s **sacrifice fly to center got the Thunder within two runs and slightly dented Miner, who finished the seventh with his ninth strikeout.
The Thunder used four relievers for an inning each, with Shemar Page, William Saxton, Nicolas Luc, and **Hunter Waldis **holding the dangerous Black Bears lineup to just one hit for the rest of the night. In the bottom of the ninth, **Logan Demkovich **keyed the rally with a leadoff single and scampered to third when pinch-hitter **Mark Herron **whacked a double into right center on an 0-2 pitch. A groundout from **Dilan Espinal **made it 3-2 and two pitches later **Paul Coumoulos **sliced a game-tying single into left field to force the first sudden death game in Trenton.
The homestand picks up on Tuesday, August 16 at 7:00 PM when your Thunder start a new three-game series against the Williamsport Crosscutters! For full ticket pricing and information for the rest of the 2022 season, partnership/sponsorship opportunities, and information about special events at Trenton Thunder Ballpark, please visit trentonthunder.com or call the Thunder Box Office at (609) 394-3300, opt 4.
New Jersey's Baseball Team | Founding Member of the MLB Draft League
The Trenton Thunder have drawn over 10 million fans over 28 years and have won the three major awards that Minor League Baseball teams can win; the Johnson Trophy for the “Nation's Best Franchise”, the Larry MacPhail Trophy for Outstanding Club Promotion, and the Bob Frietas Award for Long-Term Success, given by Baseball America. The team has given back over $7.5 million worth of goods, services, and monetary donations through Trenton Thunder Charities, under the Grand Slam We Care Foundation umbrella. The Thunder can be found online at trentonthunder.com, facebook.com/trentonthunder, twitter.com/trentonthunder, and on youtube.com/AATrentonThunder.
