Muskegon Clippers fall short to Locos to kick off postseason

LocalSportsJournal.com

MUSKEGON – A 1-0 loss wasn’t what the Muskegon Clippers were looking for in their postseason opener at Marsh Field on Thursday.

Unfortunately, the Clippers were unable to string hits together, ultimately leaving them behind in the three-game series.

The Clippers’ loss comes as a bit of a surprise considering they had a 5-1 record against Lima in the regular season, including a string of four straight heading into the playoffs. Even a look at the boxscore shows that Muskegon had an advantage on the bats, recording five hits to the Locos’ three.

Muskegon broke up a string of three hitless innings to start the game when Brett Stanley and Brandon Scheurer connected on back-to-back singles in the bottom of the second. But, Lima managing to escape the inning without allowing a run.

Photo/Leo Valdez

In the third inning, Aidan Arbogast led things off with a single for Muskegon. Again, the Clippers failed to capitalize, leaving the door open for the Locos to start the fourth inning. That’s where Lima took scored the lone run of the game.

Lima got a man on base by virtue of a walk before advancing him to third on an extra base hit. A sacrifice fly brought in the only run of the game.

Two more hits over the remaining five innings left Muskegon just short.

Despite the loss, it was a solid day for the Clippers on the mound. Jack Decker took the loss, but not before throwing eight full innings and allowing just one run on three hits while striking out nine. Ben Alderson saw one inning in relief.

At the plate, Jabin Bates, Sam Lisiak, Stanley, Scheurer and Arbogast were the only Clippers to record hits. All three guys recorded one hit each.

Now on the brink of elimination, Muskegon will need to even things up when they travel to Lima’s home field for Game 2 of the series. That action is slated for 7:05 p.m. Friday at Simmons Field in Lima, Ohio.