Rangers Stranded, Lose to Sox

  The Rangers could not take advantage of several scoring opportunities against the Beavercreek Sox on Sunday as they fell by a score of 9-6. The team stranded 14 runners on base, including leaving runners in scoring position in five of the final six innings of play.

      The Sox jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead on Rangers starter Jacob Robinson as Jeremey Fruhwirth, Shane Berner, Mark Burger, and Jon Dalton all laced hits to lead off the game. But the Rangers were able to thwart any more damage as Brad Clark’s relay from left caught Dalton in a rundown, and Brent Collinsworth gunned down a stolen base attempt to end the inning. The Rangers got a run back as a misplayed ground ball allowed Jeremy Cunningham to score.

The Rangers cut the lead to 3-2 in the 4^th as Jeremy Lippincott led off with a single and stole second base. Jared Bradley continued his hot hitting by driving in Lippincott with a rope down the first base line. Bradley added another RBI single in the fifth and finished 3-for-5.

Defensive lapses cost the Rangers three unearned runs over the next three innings which proved to be the difference in the game. Sox pitchers handed out an uncharacteristic nine walks on the night, but the Rangers could not capitalize as only two of those runners were able to find home plate. The Sox were 4-for-9 with two outs and runners on base compared to just 1-for-8 for the Rangers.