Pippins Let Sweets Slip Through Their Fingers in 11-Inning Road Loss
WALLA WALLA -- Despite holding a couple of late leads Tuesday night, the Yakima Valley Pippins were unable to hold on and dropped game two to the Walla Walla Sweets, 4-3, in 11 innings.
The Pippins (17-12) missed some early opportunities against Walla Walla starter Kyle Molnar, including a bases-loaded opportunity with only one out in the 1st. On the other side, Matt Campbell, making his first start of the year, had a no-hitter going through 5 1/3 innings to keep the Sweets (14-15) neutralized. Campbell finished with 6 scoreless innings of work, allowing just 1 hit and 2 walks in a no-decision.
In the 5th, Yakima Valley finally broke through on an RBI single from Alex Guenette. However, they couldn’t add to a 1-0 lead in the late innings and Walla Walla took a 2-1 lead with a pair of runs in the 8th.
Yakima Valley continued to be resilient, though, tying the game in the 9th on an RBI single by J.R. Davis. However, with the bases loaded and one out, the Pippins one again bounced into an inning-ending double play. Reliever Wyatt Mills worked a scoreless 9th and did the same in the 10th after the Pippins couldn’t score.
Yakima Valley took another lead in the 11th, as Davis delivered his second RBI single of the night to make it 3-2. Davis finished the night 5-5 at the plate with two RBI. His five hits tied Justin Jacobs for most hits in a single game in Pippins history.
Mills stayed on to work the 11th and struggled, allowing a leadoff double and an infield single. A safety squeeze tied the game, and with two outs, Alex McKenna delivered a walk-off single to right-center field to end the game.
The Pippins had a two-game winning streak snapped and also dropped their first game in Walla Walla in the last five tries. They’ll go for the series win against the Sweets Wednesday at 7:05 p.m. Darrion Simons, who allowed just one hit over eight innings Friday against Walla Walla, is expected to get the start for Yakima Valley in the rubber match.
Listen in live on 1460 ESPN Yakima starting at 6:55 p.m.
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