Challengers blow early lead, lose 12-10

The Challengers couldn't hold back the Lausanne Indians' powerful offense, and eventually lost 12-10 in the first contest of Sunday's doubleheader in Sierre.

Thomas Burger lasted only 3+ innings, blowing a 4-1 lead in the fourth inning, and Nicolas Jaquemet of the Indians got both the victory and the save by pitching the first 5 1-3 innings and the final two.

The Challengers opened the game with two runs on Chris Palatinus' two-run double with two outs, but conceded one run in the bottom half of the inning on a sac fly.

Two more runs off Jaquemet in the next inning were all the Challengers could score, leaving two runners in scoring position with just one out.

That ineffeciency with runners in scoring position would eventually fire back at the end of the game.

In the third inning, the Indians put together a string of four consecutive hits off Burger, getting two long doubles and a three-run homer by Jimenez, putting the Indians ahead 5-4.

But the Challengers managed to tie it up in the top of the fourth on Tobias Siegrist's RBI-single.

Before that, the Challengers wasted two more runners in scoring position in the third inning.

And the Indians answered right back in the bottom half of the fourth frame. Casimiro ended Burger's day on the mound with another massive shot over the right field fences that was ruled a ground-rule double, making way for reliever Harry Bregy.

He was greeted by Ramirez' RBI-double before getting Jimenez for the first out of the inning.

But a dropped third strike by Siegrist prolonged the inning, and scored one more run for a 9-5 Indian lead.

In the fifth inning, the Challengers stranded one more runner in scoring position, while the Indians put another one on the board on Casimiro's RBI-single.

The Challengers then found a way to get to Jaquemet. James Sanders homered to lead off the inning, and Palatinus hit an RBI-single that chased Jaquemet.

Baumann came on to relieve, but Yonimiler Martinez' sac fly cut the Indians' lead to 10-8.

Bryan Shemley and Saentis Zeller received back-to-back walks, and the Challengers had the bases loaded with two outs.

But Baumann got Patrick Zöllig fto fly out to left to escape the jam.

The Challengers got within one run in the top of the seventh as Sanders and Carlos Peña executed a perfect first-and-third double steal.

But again, with no outs and Peña at second, the next three batters were retired without any more runs.

On the other hand, the Indians added to their lead, again by an RBI-single off Casimiro's bat, his sixth RBI of the game.

The Indians extended their lead to 12-9 in the eighth inning on an infield hit by Jaquemet after the Challengers stranded one more runner in scoring position with no outs in the top half of the inning.

In the ninth, the Challengers roared back one more time.

Peña and Siegrist led off with two singles. With one out, Palatinus plated Peña with a run-scoring fielder's choice.

Martinez, representing the tying run, then weakly grounded out to pitcher Jaquemet to end the game.

Game notes
Shemley hit his 30th double of his NLA-career in the second inning. ...Zöllig struck out for the 100th time in the NLA as he went down looking in the 5th inning.