Marlins Rally Late To Edge HiToms

MOREHEAD CITY, N.C. – Matt Anderson notched a quality start and Des Roberts went 2-for-3, but it wasn’t enough as the High Point-Thomasville HiToms fell to the Morehead City Marlins 4-3 Tuesday evening.

The HiToms’ Des Roberts (rs jr., UNC-Charlotte) left his fingerprints all over this game. He led off the top of the third inning with a double down the right field line. After an Alec Paradowski (so., Wofford) single put runners at the corners with nobody out, Roberts scored on a Bradley Morton (jr., Appalachian State) RBI fielder’s choice to give the HiToms a 1-0 lead. One inning later, Pete Guy (so., UNC-Asheville) doubled to left field with two outs and Roberts struck again, this time driving a RBI single of the middle to double the HiToms’ lead to two.

After Morehead City’s (1-6) Johnny Caputo smoked a solo homer to left-center field in the bottom of the fourth, HiToms starter Matt Anderson (so., Morehead State) held the Marlins off, taking a 2-1 lead to the bottom of the sixth. That frame, the Marlins had runners on second and third with one out and Caputo struck again with a RBI sacrifice fly, tying the score at two apiece. Then, Morehead City’s Quincy Nieporte hit a RBI single to left field giving the Marlins their first lead of the game, 3-2.

The HiToms (2-4) tied the game 3-3 in the top of the seventh, and once again, Roberts played a key role. He lead off the inning with a walk, stole second base, then advanced to third and later scored on two wild pitches. The stalemate didn’t last long though, the Marlins took the lead for good in the bottom half. With the bases loaded and Blake Smith (jr., Morehead State, 1-1) on the hill, Nick Lombardi drew a walk and chased home the go-ahead run to give the Marlins a 4-3 lead.

Matthew Tindall came on for the Marlins in the eighth and pitched a 1-2-3 inning. Casey Eskew followed him in the ninth with a shutdown inning to earn his first save of the year. With the win, the Marlins snapped a six-game slide to start the season.

The HiToms get a day off before travelling to Hooker Field Thursday for the last game of the road trip against the Martinsville Mustangs. First pitch is at 7:05 P.M.