The Hoptown Hoppers used big nights at the plate from Seth Bennett and Gregg Mehlhaff to pull away from the visiting Muhlenberg County Stallions on Saturday night at Tiger Field. The Hoppers win their fourth-straight to improve to 17-10 with a road match-up with the Henderson Flash scheduled for Sunday.
Bennett doubled to score two in the bottom of the first, but Muhlenberg tied things up with a couple of runs in the top of the second. The Hoppers scored 5 in their half of the second, chasing Stallions starter Nick Ramanjula after he walked 8 and surrendered 7 runs, 6 earned. Bennett and Meflhaff capped the inning with back-to-back RBI singles.
However, the Stallions would battle back to tie the game in the third, beginning with a 3-run home run by Adrian Minjares. An RBI single by Micah Genter in the bottom of the inning gave the Hoppers the lead for good, before Mehlhaff hit a bases-loaded double to score 3 and stretch the lead to 12-7.
Leading 15-8 in the bottom of the eighth, the Hoppers added a run on an error before a 2-run double by Charlie Fischer and a run-scoring single by Bennett ended the game.
Zach Losey got the win on the mound for the Hoppers, working four innings while allowing 7 earned runs on 7 hits with a couple of walks and a strikeout. Chandler Kendall allowed a run on a hit with 3 strikeouts over three innings, with Hunter Arnold working the ninth and striking-out a couple.
Bennett finished 4-6 at the plate with 5 RBI, followed by Mehlhaff with a couple of hits and 4 runs driven-in.
Nick Casey took the loss, yielding 5 earned runs on 5 hits with a couple of walks and a strikeout. Minjares and Seth Taylor each had 3 RBI for the Stallions.
