Challengers score early, outlast Frogs 6-4

Five runs in the first two innings proved to be enough as the Challengers outlasted the Sissach Frogs 6-4.

Tobias Siegrist threw his second consecutive gem as he allowed only four runs - three of them unearned - on seven hits and four walks, while also striking out five in seven innings.

Thomas Burger pitched the final two innings for his first save of the season. It was his first save since May 12, 2007.

Ramon Gil Santos of the Frogs led all batters as he went 3-for-6, and swiped his league-leading 16th base of the season.

Seven different Challengers had one hit, and they were outhit 9-7 by the Frogs, but the Challengers went 3-for-9 with runners in scoring position while their counterparts were only 2-for-11.

In the first inning, the Challengers used a balk and a bases-loaded walk by Carlos Brito to go ahead 2-1. Thomas Blank's sacrifice fly to straight center extended their lead to 3-1.

Saentis Zeller led off the second inning with a triple and was plated by the next batter, rookie Gabe Staub.

Siegrist's RBI-single pushed the score to 5-1.

After two scoreless innings, the Frogs cut the Challengers' lead to 5-3 on a 1st-and-3rd double steal, and Christian Klarer's RBI-single three batters later.

The Frogs even got within one run on yet another successful 1st-and-3rd double steal in the sixth inning, and Adam Patterson got into scoring position on a stolen base with one out

But Siegrist struck out Mike Klee and got Alessandro Traina to ground out to shortstop Carl Conway to end the threat.

The Challengers got one run back in the bottom half of the sixth on a wild pitch by Brito for a 6-4 lead, that also proved to be the final score.

Both offenses were shut down in the final two and a half innings by Burger and Brito.

Game notes
Burger became the third Challenger to earn a save this season. Yanik Probst and Chris Palatinus are the other.