Challengers crush Rainbows 15-7

Saentis Zeller led a 22-hit offensive production against the Embrach Rainbows by contributing a franchise-record five doubles in a 15-7 win in Game 1 of Saturday's doubleheader.

Zeller also added a single in the third inning, giving him a career-high six hits. And he also tied his career-high for runs scored with five.

The Challengers batted around in the first inning against starter Wittweiler and reliever Roger Savoldelli. Zeller, Thomas Landis, Thomas Blank and Geovanni Ureña all doubled off Wittweiler, who ended up with just one batter retired.

Savoldelli extinguished the fire by striking out Adrian Kämpfer">Adrian Kämpfer, and getting Patrick Zöllig to ground out to first to end the inning.

But in the second inning, the Challengers came right back, getting doubles by Zeller, Tobias Siegrist and Chris Palatinus for two more runs and a 7-1 lead.

In the third inning, it was Ureña's and Landis' turn to pick up the doubles, scoring one more run.

Savoldelli managed to shut out the Challengers in the fourth, but in the fifth, seven batters went to the plate, scoring three runs on doubles by Zeller and Landis.

In the sixth inning, Bryan Shemley joined the double rally by getting one over the left field fence, followed by Zeller's fourth double four batters later.

In the eighth inning, Zeller and Landis combined for their third back-to-back doubles package of the game, scoring the 15th and final run for the Challengers.

In the meantime, starter Thomas Burger controlled the Rainbows at will. He allowed only an unearned run in the first inning, but no runner advanced past second base after that until the seventh inning.

Chris Hutchinson led off the inning on an error by third baseman Ureña, and eventually came around on back-to-back singles by Oli Walser and Sanchez, and a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch.

Ludwig's double two batters later, a run-scoring ground out by Rudi Vargas and Fleitas' single scored five runs for the Rainbows, bringing Burger on the edge of being hooked.

But Fleitas was thrown out at second base by catcher Siegrist, trying to extend his single into a double.

Burger (4-3) won his second consecutive game, allowing seven runs - four of them unearned - on eight hits and no walks, while also striking out nine.

It was only his second career game with nine innings.

Game notes
Kämpfer flied out to left in the third inning in his 100th career NLA at-bat. ...Palatinus got four hits in a game for the second time this season. ...Landis tied a career-high with four doubles, last achieved on September 24, 2002 against the Therwil Flyers. ...15 of the Challengers' 22 hits were doubles, setting a new franchise record for doubles in a game.