WILLIAMSPORT, Pa. - Despite taking the loss, Brad Rudis delivered six strong innings. Unfortunately, the game was ended before the bottom of the 9th inning, due to a benches clearing incident.
Brad Rudis set the tone early for the Crosscutters, striking out Jakobi Davis, the first of his six punchouts on the night.
The Right-hander out of Texas A&M would not allow a batter past 2nd base from the 2nd inning through the 5th, striking out five more batters along he way.
With his 2nd strikeout of the night, Rudis picked up his 65th K of the season, giving him the most strikeouts by a Crosscutters pitcher in a single season in the MLB Draft League era. Rudis finished the night with 69 strikeouts over 56 innings of work.
State College finally broke through against Rudis in the 6th inning, stringing three-straight singles together, scoring their first run of the night. Gavin Lewis Jr’s single to right, scored T.J. Salvaggio to make it 1-0.
Blair Davis took over in the top of the 7th inning, retiring the first batter he faced, but ran into some quick trouble, walking the next two batters. Davis retired the next batter, but surrendered a two-out, two-run triple to Salvaggio to give the Spikes a 3-0 lead.
Jared Ure entered after the triple and struck out Conor Higgs to end the inning.
Ure tossed a perfect frame in the 8th, striking out two, before allowing a run on a hit in the top of the 9th inning. Ure finished the night with five strikeouts over 2.1 innings.
Anthony Steele worked a gem in his 2nd start for the Spikes, shutting out the Cutters over seven innings. The Penn State product allowed three hits and four walks in his first win of the season.
Before the start of the 9th inning, a skirmish in front of the 3rd base dugout led to the emptying of both dugouts and bullpens. Players and coaches had to be separated. The game was deemed complete after 8-1/2 innings, with the Spikes getting the 4-0 win.
The Crosscutters will wrap up their 2025 season tomorrow night against the State College Spikes. First pitch is scheduled for 6:35 p.m.
Cutters Carvings: Zach Murray (’24) previously held the Crosscutters single season strikeout record (64) in the MLB Draft League era… The Crosscutters have been held off the scoreboard over their last 18 innings… The Cutters offense has collected six hits in the series, five singles and a double…
