Siegrist throws 3-hit complete game in 10-3 win over Barracudas

The Challengers handed their crosstown rivals Zurich Barracudas their first loss of the season as they rode Tobias Siegrist's complete game performance in a 10-3 win.

Siegrist gave up three runs - one of them unearned - on three hits, one base-on-balls and three hit-by-pitches, while also striking out nine en route to his second win of the season.

Siegrist's perfomance was backed by Robert Sedin, Francisco Colindres and Siegrist himself who all had three hits apiece. Eidrys Reyes added a game-high three RBIs with two hits, and Sedin also collected three RBIs.

With the Challengers up 1-0 against Beni Montag through 3 1/2 innings, the Cudas loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth on an error, a hit-by-pitch and a single.

Rookie Nelson Santana then hit a liner to left field that was misjudged by Colindres, enabling Santana to reach third with a bases-clearing triple.

But sure enough, that was all the Barracudas could muster that night against Siegrist.

After that, the only Barracudas that reached were Rüesch on a single in the fifth inning, Alejandro Lopez and Marc Shnider on hit-by-pitches in the sixth and seventh inning, and an error by left fielder Patrick Maier off of Schnider's pop fly down the line.

Meanwhile, the Challengers offense clicked and scored 10 runs off Montag and relievers Nderim Coma and Rüesch.

Right after that three-run triple in the bottom of the fourth, the Challengers came back and scored three runs on their own in the fifth inning on Thomas Blank's perfectly executed squeeze bunt, followed by Reyes' two-run double to left center field.

That was all for Montag, as Coma took the mound to start the sixth. Colindres tagged him for a run on an RBI-single to extend the Challengers' lead to 5-3, but Coma escaped further damage by getting Sedin to hit into an inning-ending 6-3 double play.

After a scoreless seventh, the Challengers got to Coma in a big way and blew the game wide open in the eighth inning.

Colindres had an RBI-double, Sedin followed with a two-run single, and both Siegrist and Reyes delivered RBI-singles to up the score to 10-3.

There was just once a moment when I thought about getting to the bullpen said coach Chris Palatinus of Siegrist's performance. That was in the seventh inning when he kept throwing his changeup for strikes and kept the Barracudas' off balance. I thought his velocity dropped but that was nothing but a misinterpretation on my part. Palatinus continued.

With the bullpen well rested, the Challengers can count on Sedin, Andrea Girasole, Harry Bregy and Thomas Burger to all throw in Wednesday's rematch at the Heerenschürli.

Game notes
Siegrist's complete game was his first since September 9, an 11-8 win against the Bern Cardinals. It was his second complete game against the Barracudas in seven career starts. ...Siegrist's final out was a strikeout of Manuel Hirtz, his 300th in the NLA.