LocalSportsJournal.com

MACOMB – There wasn’t much room for error for the Clippers on Sunday night as they squeezed past Jet Box, 8-6.

The bats were alive early for Muskegon as the second inning saw them bring five runs across. After a fielding error put Nicolas Hawkins on first, a string of hits brought in run after run. Brett Stanley, Jabin Bates and Aaron Piasecki all singled while Stoney Smith recorded a double and Colin Cornwell delivered a triple in the same frame.

With a 5-0 lead, the Clippers looked confident having only allowed a single Jet Box hit through four innings. Then, in the fifth inning, both teams changed pitchers and that nearly spelt disaster for Muskegon.

Jacob Newman entered the game in relief and walked five straight batters before Blake Gedrich was brought in to spell him. Gedrich was able to find the strike zone, but the Jet Box batters had his number, turning two hits into three more runs. By the end of the fifth, things were knotted up once again.

Muskegon’s offense got right back to work in the top of the sixth. Stanley tripled to lead it off and was followed up by a walk for Aidan Arbogast. Bates put up his second single to score Stanley and Arbogast was brought home by Smith to give the Clippers a 7-5 advantage.

Jet Box recovered one run on a double in the bottom of the sixth, leaving the Clippers with a narrow lead.

In the top of the seventh, Stanley benefitted from a Jet Box error to reach base, scoring Piasecki in the process. That run silenced Jet Box for the rest of the night and allowed Muskegon to walk away with a sweep in the four game series.

Gedrich was awarded the win after pitching two innings and allowing two runs on three hits while striking out three. Brandon Scheurer was given a save, striking out six batters and allowing just one hit in the final three innings.

Multi-hit games were key for the Clippers and four different batters were able to accomplish that. Smith, Piasecki, Stanley and Bates each had two hits on the night to lead the way. Smith led Muskegon with three RBI while Bates had two.

The Clippers moved to 21-3 with the win and will look to add on to their five-game streak when they travel to Royal Oak to take on the Leprechauns, 5:05 p.m. Tuesday.