WALDORF, Md. – The Southern Maryland Blue Crabs won 6-5 over the Long Island Ducks with a walk-off single from Alex Crosby.  Meanwhile, Mat Latos (W, 3-2) struck out the last batter in the ninth inning, picking up his 1500th career strikeout. 

The Long Island Ducks started the scoring in the top of the third inning.  Johnni Turbo led off with a double to left-center field before Alejandro De Aza knocked a base hit into left, giving the Ducks a 1-0 lead. 

The Blue Crabs quickly responded in the bottom of the third inning.  Jack Sundberg punched a one-out base hit into right field.  The next batter, Michael Wielansky, drilled a two-run home run over the Mini Monster to give the Blue Crabs a 2-1 lead. 

Southern Maryland’s lead would be short-lived.  With the bases loaded, LJ Mazzilli ripped a double down the third baseline, clearing the bases to give the Ducks a 4-2 edge. In the top of the fifth, Long Island tacked on another run, giving Long Island a 5-2 lead. 

Southern Maryland battled back in the fifth.  Ryan Haug led off the inning with a line drive base hit into right-center field.  From there, Michael Baca hit a bloop single into right field, but was caught in a rundown between first and second.  Meanwhile, Haug went to third, but Carlos Castro overthrew Deibinson Romero, allowing Haug to score.  Later in the inning, with Wielansky on second, David Harris lined a base hit to left field, scoring Wielansky to cut the deficit to 5-4. 

In the seventh inning, Michael Baca hit a ground ball through the right side.  The next batter, Jack Sundberg reached on a bunt down the third baseline. With runners on first and second, Michael Wielansky drove a liner into left field, scoring Michael Baca to tie the game.  From there, the Ducks pitchers shut down the Blue Crabs bats to keep the game at 5-5. 

After Eddie Butler pitched six innings, allowing five runs, the Blue Crabs bullpen shut the door.  Dalton Geekie pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning, striking out one before Endrys Briceno followed up with a 1-2-3 inning of his own.  

In the top of the ninth inning, Mat Latos entered in a tie game.  After inducing a pair of popouts, Latos struck out LJ Mazzilli for his 1500th strikeout.  

In the bottom of the ninth inning, Zach Collier ripped a double to left-center field off of Edubray Ramos (L, 1-1), before advancing to third on a ground out.  The next batter, Alex Crosby slapped a base hit into left field, scoring Collier to give the Blue Crabs a 6-5 victory. 

With the win, the Blue Crabs move to 56-23 on the season, and improve to 8-5 in the second half, remaining three games behind the Lancaster Barnstormers.  The Blue Crabs are back in action tomorrow against the Long Island Ducks at 6:35 for game two. 

About the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs   

The Blue Crabs play in the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, MLB’s premier Partner League. The Blue Crabs have kicked off their 14th season of baseball and play all home games at Regency Furniture Stadium in Waldorf, Maryland. For more information on the Blue Crabs, please call 301-638-9788 or visit  http://www.somdbluecrabs.com. For media requests, contact Andrew Bandstra, at 301-678-1124.            

About the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB)    

The Atlantic League is the first Partner League of Major League Baseball, a player gateway to the Major Leagues, and a leader in baseball innovation.  The ALPB has sent over 1,000 players to MLB organizations while drawing 44 million fans during its 24-year history. Please visit www.AtlanticLeague.com.

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