By Dave Hart
LocalSportsJournal.com

MUSKEGON – The Muskegon Clippers were inches from having a better outcome in their series finale with the Grand Lake Mariners on Sunday afternoon.

The Clippers led 6-5 in the eighth inning when Grand Lake’s Ethyn Barnitz launched a ball toward the left field foul pole with two runners on base.

The ball landed about five feet foul, but it was determined the ball crossed the fence while still fair, giving the Mariners a two-run lead, which resulted in an 8-6 win over the Clippers.

Muskegon had other chances to win the game as it stranded two runners on third base both in the seventh and ninth innings.

The Clippers failed to complete the sweep and dropped to 5-4 on the season, good for fourth place in the Great Lakes Summer Collegiate Baseball League standings.

Muskegon will head out to the road for a three-game series with the Southern Ohio Copperheads, starting at 7:05 p.m. Tuesday. The Clippers will return home next Friday to play the Xenia Scouts.

“From my angle the ball stayed in front of the foul pole,” said Clippers’ manager Logan Fleener. “They confirmed it, and, in that moment, you have to go with that. I could jump up and down and yell, but it doesn’t get those three runs back.

“We had more outs to compete with and we didn’t do anything with them.”

The Clippers trailed 4-0 through four innings before scoring five unanswered runs.

Muskegon scored three runs in the fifth inning as two runs scored on an error by the Grand Lake pitcher, and Cooper Hums knocked in a run with an RBI groundout to cut the Clippers deficit to 4-3.

The Clippers took a 5-4 lead with two runs scored in the sixth inning as Ethan Scheib and Zachary Warren each had an RBI single.

The Mariners tied it with a run in the seventh inning, but Muskegon quickly responded, scoring on an RBI groundout by Diego Pena to take a one-run lead.

Grand Lake took the lead for good on the three-run homer from Barnitz.

Muskegon was paced offensively by Scheib with two hits, two runs scored and an RBI, while Austin Cicerone added two hits and two runs scored.

Connor Apligian pitched a no-decision for Muskegon, allowing four runs on five hits in four innings of work. Cody Matuz suffered the loss, giving up the three-run homer in his 1 2/3 innings of work.