Challengers win in 11 to even their record at 2-2

The Challengers overcame a great pitching performance by Peter Soskin of the Reussbuhl Eagles, and won Game 2 of Saturday's doubleheader 3-2 in 11 innings.

Soskin's line would be enough to win many a game, especially in Switzerland. He pitched a complete-game eight-hitter over 10 1-3 innings, allowing three runs - two of them unearned - while walking only two batters and striking out a grand total of 18.

But his offense didn't help him, Dario D'Angelo's two-run homer in the third inning was his team's only highlight at the plate.

While the Challengers took the lead in the bottom of the second thanks to an error by shortstop Mano Steiner, D'Angelo's homer off starter Harry Bregy gave the Eagles the lead that would stand for a long time.

But Bregy's stellar pitching performance was the reason why the score of 2-1 still stood up until the eighth inning when he left the mound. He gave up only two runs on six hits and four walks, while also striking out a career-high 10 batters.

He was relieved by Geovanni Ureña, who cruised through the final four innings, allowing no more runners to cross the plate.

The Challengers managed to tie the game in the bottom of the eighth on a single by Thomas Landis, a passed ball that moved him to second, and a double by Tobias Siegrist.

Then the two teams exchanged zeros on the board for the next two innings, with Soskin striking out four of six batters in those innings.

Chris Palatinus then led off the bottom of the 11th with a single, stole second and moved to third on a fly out to center by Ureña.

Two pitches into Bryan Shemley's at-bat, Soskin fired a wild pitch to the plate, allowing Palatinus to score the winning run.

The Challengers are back to .500, and will face the Zurich Barracudas next, who hold the division lead with a 5-1 record.

Game notes
Bregy's previous high of nine punch outs also came against the Eagles, dating back to April 18, 2004. Bregy also passed the 200 IP mark as he has now a total of 202 innings pitched in the NLA. ...Palatinus' stolen bases in the 11th gives him 100 for his NLA career.