Back to Earth: Suns Throttled 9-0 by Sanford
It was inevitable that the DeLand Suns would come back to earth after Monday's 17-1 win, but they did so in such drastic fashion with a 9-0 loss to the Sanford River Rats on Tuesday night. Back at Conrad Park for just their third home game of the season, DeLand was run-ruled by the Rats after delivering the same fate to Sanford just one day ago.
The Suns (5-4) saw success in the first game versus the River Rats (9-1) by delivering an early knockout punch, and on Tuesday Sanford returned the favor.
In the top of the second inning, Sanford brought 11 men to the plate and scored six of them to get the blowout started early. Suns starter Dawson Turner (St. Leo) walked five batters during the inning, bouncing several pitches in the dirt. This was the same issue Turner had in his last start, when he issued four walks against Orlando last week.
Although giving that many free passes is never a recipe for success, the defense behind the Suns 6'7 left-hander did him no favors. With two runners on and one out in the inning, Dylan Bowen (Francis Marion) grounded to second on what should have been an easy out. But Everett Martin (Polk State) missed the throw to first, and another poor throw from first-baseman Ashton Thomas (Flagler) resulted in two errors on a play where Sanford scored their first two runs.
Turner was unable to recover after that, as he walked three of the next four batters before being removed. All 6 runs scored in the inning were unearned to his record, but the southpaw still took the loss in the game. William Rodriguez (Keystone) came in to get the final out, but he issued a bases-load walk and gave up a two-run single before all was said and done. Sanford led 6-0 after two innings
Despite that disaster of a start for DeLand, it did not appear that all hope was lost. On the offensive side, they loaded the bases twice in the first two frames, but came up scoreless both times. But once Sanford's starting pitcher Connor Macip (New Orleans) got some confidence from escaping those jams and was handed the big lead, it was off to the races.
Macip would retire 10 batters in a row, a span that lasted from leaving the bases loaded in the second inning to a nine-pitch fifth where he struckout two. Despite walking four in the start, it took only 73 pitches to get through five and qualify for the win. He was also 15-for-21 establishing first-pitch strikes.
After the game, Suns coach Matt Swiderski said hitters took "A lot of bad swings on 2-0 counts, hitters counts." Getting ahead of pitchers and staying aggressive has been a cornerstone philosophy for DeLand this season, but it was definitely something they struggled with during Tuesday's 9-0 loss.
The game was shortened to seven innings due to the run-rule, and the River Rats star Connor Hujsak (Mississippi State) was able to provide all the cushion necessary to go home early. In the fourth inning he launched a towering home run, his fifth already this season, then drove in two runs with a base hit in the sixth. By the end, Hujsak was 4-for-4 at the plate with 3 RBI's.
The loss meant a split in the two-game series against the first-place River Rats, and at 5-4 DeLand now sits in third place in the standings. An off-day Wednesday will give the Suns a chance to lick their wounds before getting back in action this weekend for a three-game set against the Leesburg Lightning.
Leesburg will come in at 4-6 having won two straight. The first game of the series will be 7 p.m. Thursday back in DeLand at Conrad Park.
Winning Pitcher: Connor Macip (2-0)
Losing Pitcher: Dawson Turner (0-1)
Time of Game: 2:29
William Haynes (Florida State)
