(Media release from the Rome Emperors):
A trio of Emperors scattered three hits and allowed just one earned run in Tuesday night’s 3-1 win over Hickory.
It was Lucas Braun’s best 6.2 innings of his professional career. Seven strikeouts were a season-high for the twenty-two-old right-hander. His only mistake came against Texas’ no.2 prospect, Sebastian Walcott, on a full-count curveball that was deposited over the left field wall. Pitching Coach Mike Steed took note of the competitive counts Braun worked into, “He progressed from his last start. He came at hitters tonight… in a lot of 0-2 and 1-2 counts most of the night and I thought his changeup took a step forward.”
Sam Strickland and Shay Schanaman combined to no-hit the Crawdads over the last 2.1 innings, picking up the hold and save respectfully.
As for Rome’s bats, Workinger’s first inning RBI triple to right center field brought in Ceballos from first base to tie the game at one apiece. A defensive miscue allowed Rome’s tie breaking run to come across in the fifth, scoring Ceballos for the second time. Another error in the eighth put a runner on for Ambioris Tavarez and Justin Janas whose knocks drove in an important insurance run to make it 3-1.
Rome has now won four straight against Hickory and will go for five on Wednesday. The first pitch on Education Day is set for 11:00 am EDT.
