Challengers score early, outlast Mustangs 8-4

The Challengers jumped on rookie Benjamin Wood in the first inning, scoring six runs which proved to be enough in an 8-4 win in Game 2 of Saturday's doubleheader against the Embrach Mustangs.

Wood faced six batters without retiring a single one of them, giving way to former Challenger Korey Kovac.

Bryan Shemley went 2-for-2 with two singles and two walks, and Carl Conway picked up the win.

After six innings, he was relieved by Patrick Maier in the bottom of the seventh inning. But Maier failed to record an out, giving up two consecutive singles to the first two batters.

Conway was resummoned to the mound, hitting one batter but retiring the other three.

He pitched the first six innings in which he allowed only four runs - three of them unearned - on five hits and seven walks, while also striking out five.

Wood walked three of the first four batters in the game as he simply wasn't able to find the zone. Tobias Siegrist had an RBI-single, and Jesus Martinez hit a two-run single. A passed ball and a fielding error by second baseman Chris Byrnes pushed three more runs across the plate, before Kovac got Gabe Staub and Saentis Zeller on two ground outs, and Thomas Blank was thrown out stealing second base.

They added one more run in the second inning on a fielder's choice in a 1st-and-3rd situation for a 7-0 lead.

Conway allowed the Mustangs' first two runs in the bottom of the fourth on a single, a walk and two defensive errors.

The Challengers survived six errors as the Mustangs stranded 13 baserunners and went just 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position.

With the win, the Challengers avoided getting swept in a season series ever by the Embrach Mustangs.

Game notes
Siegrist collected his 650 total base in the NLA with a first-inning single. ...Martinez struck out looking in his 300th NLA at-bat with the Challengers. ...Blank picked up his 50th walk in the NLA as he received a free pass from Kovac in the first inning.