FORT WAYNE, IN – The West Michigan Whitecaps couldn’t solve Fort Wayne TinCaps pitching for the second consecutive night, falling by a final score of 5-2 in front of 4,883 fans in a rapidly played ballgame at Parkview Field on Thursday.
The Whitecaps have scored only three runs in their
FORT WAYNE, IN – The West Michigan Whitecaps couldn’t solve Fort Wayne TinCaps pitching for the second consecutive night, falling by a final score of 5-2 in front of 4,883 fans in a rapidly played ballgame at Parkview Field on Thursday.
The Whitecaps have scored only three runs in their past two games and have lost 19 of their last 27 games, including the first three games of the series with the TinCaps. The contest marked the shortest nine-inning game of the season, lasting just one hour and 53 minutes – besting the previous mark of 2:00 on Opening Night in West Michigan when West Michigan defeated the TinCaps 1-0 at LMCU Ballpark.
The TinCaps opened the scoring for the first time in the series when Nathan Martorella delivered an RBI-single as Fort Wayne collected four base hits in the opening inning. In the second, they took advantage of three more hits against Whitecaps starting pitcher Carlos Pena, as former CMU Chippewa Jacob Marsee launched a three-run homer to give the TinCaps a 4-0 lead. An inning later, Colton Bender cleared the wall with his second home run of the season, extending the Fort Wayne advantage to 5-0. The ‘Caps got a run in the fourth when Izaac Pacheco’s double scored Roberto Campos from first base with two outs and put West Michigan on the scoreboard, 5-1. After scoring a run on an error in the fifth, the ‘Caps watched their final 12 batters get retired in order to help Fort Wayne guarantee a series split with their third victory in as many tries.
The Whitecaps dropped to 37-40 and 5-7 in the second half, while the TinCaps improved to 41-37 and 9-3 in the second half. Pena (1-6) takes his sixth loss of the season, while Fort Wayne starter Adam Mazur (4-1) picked up his fourth win. ‘Caps infielder Carlos Mendoza and Campos enjoyed multi-hit performances, both going 2-for-4 in the contest.
UP NEXT
The Whitecaps take on Fort Wayne in the fourth game of this six-game series at Parkview Field on Friday at 7:05 pm. Pitchers Garrett Burhenn and Ryan Bergert get the starts for West Michigan and Fort Wayne, respectively. Broadcast coverage with Dan Hasty and Nate Wangler begins on the Whitecaps Baseball Network beginning at 6:50 pm. Get your tickets for all 2023 home games now at www.whitecapsbaseball.com.