Tag: white sox

Strilchuk Continues Hot Streak, Wolfpack Take Series

The Wolfpack clinched their season series with the White Sox early on Saturday when they took Game 1 by a score of 7-1. The game was closer than the final score would indicate, as Christian Lapointe went toe to toe with White Sox ace Tony Olson in a pitchers duel that saw Lapointe take a 1-0 lead and a no hitter into the bottom of the sixth inning before the White Sox were able to get to him. They would ultimately tie the game 1-1 heading into the top of the seventh before the Wolfpack bats woke up in a big way and tacked on six runs to seal the win.

A clutch bases loaded single by Cam Williams gave the Pack the go-ahead run, which was followed by a two run single by Mitch McGeein bringing up the red hot Russell Strilchuk with two outs and a 4-1 lead. Strilchuk took one pitch before ambushing a fastball and blowing the game open with a three run shot to right field.

Saturday’s second Game started off rough but the Wolfpack offense did its best to stage a comeback as they turned a 7-0 deficit into tight 8-7 loss when all was said and done. Brandon Billesberger was a walking highlight in the contest as he went 3-4 with a triple and two RBI while swiping three bags and extending his lead on the rest of the FMBA in that category, he’s now stolen eight bases across six games.

The Wolfpack head into their Bye Week 4-2 on the season, and will be in action Monday July 27th when they start up their series with the Cardinals,

Strilchuk Walks Off White Sox

Wolfpack rookie Russell Strilchuk broke out in a big way on Wednesday night by smashing a two run walk off home run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Pack improved to 3-1 with the win and took a share of first place in the ‘A’ Division heading into their doubleheader on Saturday to wrap up the season series with the White Sox.

Strilchuk collected three hits in four plate appearances during the contest and knocked in three of the Pack’s four runs to lead the offense. The Wolfpack had runners threatening through the entire game, but on several occasions just failed to muster the timely hit to score those runs early on. With a 2-1 lead going into the final inning, starting pitcher Dirk Dembroski turned the ball over to Cory Lawson for the save, but a couple of walks and a big triple by Sox outfielder Brent Biever saw the Pack’s lead evaporate as they would head into the bottom of the final inning down 3-2.

Fellow Wolfpack rookie Mitch McGeein would set the table for Strilchuk by ringing a double over the head of Biever in center field to put a runner in scoring position with one out. Shaun Connor was unable to cash in McGeein as he recorded the second out of the inning bringing Strilchuk up with two outs. After spoiling away several pitches and working the count to full Strilchuk capitalized on a hanging breaking ball and crushed it over the right field wall to secure the Pack their third win of the young season.

The series concludes on Saturday night with a doubleheader beginning at 3pm at Glen Hansen field.

Tamayo Crushes First Career Homer As Pack Take Down Sox

The Wolfpack took the win by a score of 12-6 Wednesday night against the White Sox to improve to 4-0 in league play and 7-0 overall on the young season. The offense got rolling early and the bats were hot all night,  all but one member of the Wolfpack lineup recorded hits in the contest.

Wolfpack rookie Ray Tamayo smacked his first career homer to left field in the second inning in his fifth career plate appearance wearing the Curly W. “Razor” Ray Tamayo followed that up with a double in his next plate appearance and would go on to lead the Pack in RBI on the night. Tamayo’s bat looks to have lengthened what was already a formidable lineup for the Wolfpack, and with some key players currently on the mend with injuries, it remains to be seen what kind of product a fully healthy Wolfpack can put on the field on a given day.

Christian Lapointe (2-0) recorded his second win of the season as the first reliever to follow opener Trent Lawson who left the game with a 4-3 lead. Although Lapointe struggled with his command allowing two walks and a hit by pitch in his two innings of work, he was able to limit the damage on the scoreboard and pitch himself out of heavy traffic on the bases for the second time this season.

Neil Robertson followed Lapointe in what was his first appearance of the 2019 season and pounded the strikezone for one inning of relief throwing 14 of his 20 pitches for strikes, included first pitch strikes to 5 of the 6 batters he faced. After an offseason incident with a microwave (details of which are still unavailable) it is good to see Robertson healthy and back to being an effective reliver for the Pack.

Matt Zanutto came in out of the bullpen for his first appearance as a pitcher for the Wolfpack and was equally as effective as he slammed the door for a two inning save. He threw 20 of 27 piches for strikes including first pitch strikes to 5 out of 8 batters faced and looked like another strong pitching option the Pack will be able to lean on as the season progresses.

The Wolfpack are playing solid baseball in all facets of the game but one, their defense has been ugly. They’ve already committed twelve errors through only four regular season games. If the champsionship aspirations are going to come to fruition, the Wolfpack will have to find a way to clean up the defense and average fewer than three errors per game as the pitching and defense will not always be able to bail the defense out, especially in the playoffs.

The Wolfpack are back in action for a 3pm/6pm doubleheader on Sunday June 2nd against the Longhorns. Wolfpack ace Curtis Smith is listed as the probable starter for Game 1.

Wolfpack Fall To White Sox For First Loss of Season

The Wolfpack lost a tough one to the White Sox on Wednesday night, giving both teams a 4-1 record through their first five games.

The Wolfpack’s hot offense continued to produce runs, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the hole that the pitching and defense put them in Wednesday. The Pack committed four errors on the night and the extended innings and added base runners added too much to the pitchers’ workload for them to overcome.

Jaret Loran (0-0) took the no decision but provided a solid start on the mound in his first career outing for the Wolfpack and left in line for the win up 4-2 after striking out two batters through two innings and only allowing two unearned runs. The White Sox bats began to heat up in the fourth inning when they strung together four consecutive singles and chased reliever Jim Lawson from a tied ball game with two runners on. Six more base hits in that inning would cap off a nine-run fourth and give the Sox a lead they would not lose.

It was business as usualy for the Wolfpack offense as the eight runs they scored Wednesday brings their season total to 50 through five games, putting them on pace to beat their previous single season record of 216 set in 2017. Fraser Armstrong and Shaun Connor both provided multiple hits on the night, and Armstrong stroked a solo shot to lead off the top of the third for his first home run of 2018.

The Pack have been bit by the injury bug early this year, as Michael Goldade, Curtis Smith, and Blake Carruthers are all battling lower body injuries while Shaun Connor continues to recover from a laceration to his right hand that has thrown off his usual production to start the season. With eight days off before a game against the 2017 runner-up Calgary Dukes, the Wolfpack are hoping they can get their best lineup healthy and back on the field to start a new winning streak.