Williamsport, P.A. – Porter Brown’s 7th inning grand slam all but secured the Crosscutters 12-5 win over State College on Sunday evening.
Brent Francisco set the tone in his professional debut, striking out two of the three batters he faced in the top of the first inning. Francisco would end the night with nine strikeouts over 5.2 innings to get the win.
Williamsport got out to a quick start, using a Mitch McCabe two run single, scoring Porter Brown and Mark Shallenberger to give the Cutters an early 2-0 lead.
Brown got into the mix in the bottom of the 2nd inning, grounding a RBI single through the middle to score Cory Taylor to make it 3-0. McGwire Holbrook capped the scoring with a two-run single to left-center, scoring Will Binder and Mikey Florides to give Williamsport a 5-0 lead.
For Holbrook, it gave him 23 RBI on the season, which leads the active Cutters.
The Spikes were able to plate a run in the top of the 4th against Francisco, but Williamsport responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the 5th inning. Josh Lopez plated Jacob Harper with a sacrifice fly to deep center, making it 6-1 Cutters on Lopez’s 14th RBI of the season.
State College added two more runs against Francisco in the top of the 6th inning, but again the Crosscutters offense would have a response.
With two outs in the bottom of the 7th inning, Porter Brown sent a Leo Palacios offering off the foul pole in left, clearing the bases with a grand slam, to make it 10-3. It gave Brown five RBI on the night and nine for the season.
Mitch McCabe put the bow in the win in the eight with a towering, 422-foot, home run off the videoboard in left-center, plating Holbrook in the process to make it 12-3. It was McCabe’s first home run of the season, giving him four RBI on the game and six for the season.
State College plated two runs against reliever Drew Clark in the top of the 9th, but Clark was able to get the final out recorded, closing out the series clinching win for the Cutters.
Williamsport welcomes in Trenton for a three-game series, starting tomorrow night at 6:35 p.m.
Cutters Carvings – Brown’s slam was the first grand slam of the season for Williamsport… Brown tied Holbrook for the most RBI in a single game this season, with 5… Francisco’s nine strikeouts are the most by a Cutters pitcher in a single game this season…
