Challengers outwalk Devils

Game 1 of Saturday's doubleheader between the Challengers and the Wil Devils showed a lot of struggling pitchers.

Challengers starter Oliver Christen and the Devils' Gianluca Trüb and Sandro Nussbaumer issued a total of 17 walks in a combined 8.2 innings pitched.

After a tied first inning Christen lost control in the second and was relieved with two outs and bases loaded by Dean Scherbaum.

And Scherbaum became the only pitcher of the day to find the strike zone, as he cruised through the rest of the game without issuing free passes while fanning six batters.

So the ground was set for the Challengers to rebound after falling behind in the second inning.

They did so by showing patience and drawing walks as well as by timely hitting. Daiki Sato had 3 RBI's with a hit by pitch, a sac fly and a single, Kurt Kovac singled in a run and Adrian Kämpfer">Adrian Kämpfer a pair.

With the runs scored in the third, fourth and fifth inning the game was decided at 14-4.

Game notes:
With his two walks in the third and fifth inning Willy Schaub set a new NLB franchise record for career walks at 98, just one ahead of Kämpfer who passed the 100 RBI's mark with his single in the fifth inning.