Kleinsorge Shines, Clark Drives in Four in Win

By Nevada Cullen

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Justin Kleinsorge pitched into the seventh for the first time as a Baller on Friday at Raimondi Park. He punched out nine Northern Colorado Owlz, and the offense backed him up with nine runs in Oakland's third consecutive victory, a 9-4 win.

The Ballers bashed a trio of homers on the night, including Tripp Clark's first professional long ball. Clark also gave Oakland its initial lead with a two-run double in the third inning and finished with a career-high 4 runs batted in.

Most of the damage against Kleinsorge came by way of a couple solo shots in the third. Euro Diaz led off the inning with an opposite-field blast, and Sam Low grabbed his first professional hit with a goner to left field.

Leading off the bottom of the frame, Brad Burckel dropped a perfect bunt down the third-base line for a single to spark a huge inning for the Ballers. Burckel eventually scored on a wild pitch before Dondrei Hubbard tied the contest with an RBI groundout. Then, Clark powered a booming two-run double to center to put Oakland in front 4-2.

Hubbard added an insurance run in the fifth. He hammered a homer to left center for his team-leading 13th tater of the season.

Dave Matthews brought the Owlz back within two with an RBI single in the top of the sixth. But in the home half of the inning, Coleton Horner legged out an infield single for his third hit, and Drew Woodcox crushed a two-run bomb to right-center field, his third dinger in as many days.

An inning later, Clark lined a ball near the top of the wall in left field for a double and moved Hubbard to third. After the umpires discussed the play, they determined that the ball had cleared the wall before returning to the field of play and awarded Clark his first career home run.

Kleinsorge completed his outing in the seventh inning with a strikeout, his ninth of the game. His 6.2 innings pitched and 9 punchouts each surpassed his previous season highs. Kleinsorge did not walk a single batter.

Connor Sullivan looked sharp in his third professional appearance out of the bullpen for the Ballers. He extended his scoreless-innings streak to 5.1 frames to begin his career, and upped his strikeout total to 10.

The Ballers can clinch a series win and earn their fourth straight victory Saturday, with first pitch at 4:35 p.m. PDT. As always, you can listen on 860 AM The Answer.