Challengers 14, Frogs 7

Game 2 of Saturday's doubleheader was decided much earlier than Game 1 and the Challengers went home with a 14-7 win.

Nick Lehmann>

Nick Lehmann injured himself in the top of the second inning and will be out for at leat six weeks.

The Challengers scored five times in the first two innings for a 5-0 lead after 1½ innings, but it came at a high price: Nick Lehmann aggrevated his strings in his left ankle as he tried to elude the tag by catcher Mike Klee at home plate. He will most likely miss at least six weeks.

Backup catcher Bryan Shemley replaced Lehmann and the Challengers never looked back afterwards.

Starter Benny Räber allowed three runs - two of them unearned - in the bottom of the second inning on two errors, and the Frogs came within two runs of the Challengers.

But that was as close as they could get.

The Challengers continued their assault in the next inning by scoring twice on wild pitches by reliever Steve Klee for a 7-3 lead after three frames.

But the best was yet to come. After Klee retired the first two batters in the fourth inning, he allowed a base-on-balls to Gary Kochlefl and Thomas Landis followed with a single to put two runners on. Anubis Benitez, who already homered in his first at-bat and reached on a hit-by-pitch in his second appearance, slashed a ground-rule double over the fence in right center-field for an 8-3 lead. Roger Brunner added a two-run single and three more runs scored on three errors by the Frogs' defense.

Räber (3-0) was finished after five innings of work, and Benitez relieved him in the bottom of the sixth with his team leading 13-4.

The Frogs threatened one more time in the last inning as the first three batters got on with a walk, a double and an error by now-third baseman Räber. Benitez retired the next two batters, but yet another error by Räber scored one more run for the Frogs.

Benitez then finally induced Brich to hit into a game-ending grounder to second base, and the Challengers' kept their nine-game winning streak alive.

The Challengers have now played all their games against the Frogs, the Cardinals and the Rainbows, and now will face the Swiss Champions Barracudas and runner-up Flyers in the final weeks of the regular season.