Cards rally for 3-2 win in final inning; Challengers drop to 1-5

Game 2 of Saturday's doubleheader between the Bern Cardinals and the Challengers featured a great pitching duel between John Baum and Andy Fleischacker.

In the end, the Cards again found a way to win, scoring twice in the final inning for a dramatic 3-2 victory.

The two player coaches went neck-to-neck for six innings, each allowing only a single run to their opponents.

The Challengers struck first as Saentis Zeller scored from third after Chris Palatinus struck out swinging and catcher Wälchli had to throw to first to get him out after dropping the third strike.

Baum himself tied the score by going deep in the third inning.

And although heavy-hitting Jhonny Perigos hit two doubles in his first two trips to the plate, he was stranded both times.

Not many runners reached second base on either team in the middle innings, and none of them got even to third base.

The Challengers then managed to get the lead in the bottom of the sixth as Tobias Siegrist led off with a double, and Palatinus reached on third baseman Angelo Rodriguez' bad throw to first, enabling Zeller to score the go-ahead run.

But Palatinus got stranded as Manuel Schretzmann's sac bunt pushed him to second, Carlos Peña struck out and Kovac got induced to hit into an inning-ending ground out to the shortstop.

The Cardinals, facing adversity for the first time in a long while, got two runs against the now struggling Fleischacker on four hits. Rodriguez led off with a double, and three consecutive singles by Baum, Perigos and Zimmermann, plus a run-scoring fielder's choice by Tobias Imboden was all the Cardinals needed.

Baum retired all three batters he faced in the final inning to complete the sweep.

Game notes
Perigos hit three doubles and a single for the Cardinals, the last one coming off a bounce just outside off the plate. ...Jesus Martinez aggrevated his hamstrings in the first inning. His status is day-to-day. ...Siegrist's double in the sixth inning was his 300th hit in the NLA.