By Cameron Boon
OLEAN, N.Y. — Olean’s Frank Rubio (Florida) and Rochester’s Stephen Chandler (Arkansas Little Rock) each went the distance Thursday night, combining to only allow five runs while striking out 13.
But it was Rubio and the Oilers who got the upper hand, giving the Ridgemen their third loss in a row, 3-2 in a New York Collegiate Baseball League game, Thursday night at Bradner Stadium.
Rubio went all nine innings, holding the Ridgemen to a pair of runs on seven hits while victimizing eight Rochester batters with a strikeout. The Gator pitcher is now 2-0 on the season, also taking two no decisions in his campaign.
Chandler finished with five strikeouts, allowing three Oiler runs and four hits in the losing effort. He fell to 2-3 on the season, but his ERA stayed at a respectable 2.58 as the Ridgemen as a whole fell to 10-10.
The Ridgemen got the scoring going in the top of the fifth, something that is beginning to be a pattern in Rochester’s games. They have scored the first run in seven of the last eight games, but have walked away a disappointing 4-4 in that stretch.
Chase Burrow (Mary Hardin-Baylor) drew a one out walk, and then advanced to third when Larry Vidaurre (Nyack) singled. Burrow then scored on Shane Soria’s (Glendale CC) fielder’s choice to second base, which forced Vidaurre out.
Olean leveled the score in the sixth, and the inning started with a Samuel Kysor (South Carolina Upstate) single that ended Chandler’s streak of nine in a row retired to that point.
Kysor was plated three batters later by way of Ted Dilts’ (El Camino) ground out to second base.
In the top of the seventh, the Ridgemen had a runner on third with one out to claim the lead back. But a Holt Davis (UAB) strike out and a Burrow fly out ended that threat, and the Oilers took that momentum into their half and took a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.
Back-to-back doubles by Michael Fahrman (Florida) and James Ott (Bloomsburg) plated Fahrman, and Olean went up 2-1. Ott then crossed home plate on a sacrifice fly to center off the bat of Kysor.
Ethan Luna (Southwestern), the only batter with a multi-hit game for either team, cut the lead in half when he led off the top of the ninth with a home run. That was his first dinger of the season, and his second straight game with an RBI.
The Ridgemen (10-10) went down in order after that, making it four of their last five games they have been handed the loss. The Oilers snapped a three-game losing streak and are now 5-13 on the season.
Same two teams tomorrow night at Bradner Stadium as the Ridgemen look to right the ship, and the Oilers look to make it two in a row. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
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