In his last start, Zack Von Rosenberg gave up just one run on two hits in five innings, but did not get enough run support to get his first win.
The 19-year-old State College Spikes opening day starter gave his team a similar performance Wednesday night. This time, however, they backed him up with plenty of offensive production.
The Spikes offense, coupled with another good performance by Von Rosenberg, propelled them to an 11-1 win against the Connecticut Tigers at Dodd Stadium in Norwich, Conn. It took six starts but Von Rosenberg, the 2009 sixth-round pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates, tallied his first professional win.
State College (14-12) jumped on Tigers starting pitcher Brennan Smith early. Spikes first baseman Matt Curry and designated hitter Chase Lyles both had RBI singles in the first inning to give State College a 2-0 lead. Curry, who went 3-for-3 with two RBI in the contest, has now hit safely in each of his 11 games with State College.
Left fielder Pat Irvine helped add to the lead in the third inning with an RBI double. The next batter, third baseman Kelson Brown, singled home two more runs before catcher Miguel Mendez singled, chasing Smith from the game. Brown, who led the team with three RBI, would come around to score on a Kyle Saukko groundout before the inning was over, increasing the Spikes’ lead to six.
Connecticut (13-13) got one run back in the bottom of the inning but State College scored three more in the fourth and two more in the sixth to give the Tigers a ten-run deficit they would not recover from.
The eleven State College runs on 13 hits would be more than enough support for Von Rosenberg, who went five innings and gave up just the one run on five hits. The 6-foot-5 right-hander mixed in five strikeouts and walked only one Tiger, improving his record to 1-4 and his ERA from 5.57 to 4.85.
Colton Cain, another 19-year-old, made his first appearance in a Spikes uniform since being called up from the Gulf Coast League Sunday. He threw just one inning but allowed no hits and struck out two.
Casey Sadler, Teddy Fallon and Jason Townsend pitched an inning each to close out the game, combining to give up just one hit.
State College and Connecticut will play the second of their three-game set at 7:05 tonight.