Erie – The Erie Tigers threw out the bait, and a Bulldog bit.
With two out and the bases loaded, Erie snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, as an errant pickoff throw to second base from University catcher Conway Pebley scored the winning runs in an 8-7 Patriot League thriller Saturday.
“Things weren’t going our way, and we just kept battling,” said Erie coach Larry Green, whose team improved to 3-0 in the league, 6-4 overall. “We’ve been down in that spot, working on that trick play, and it worked to perfection.”
University (4-2, 2-2), which grabbed a 7-5 lead in the top of the seventh, and pitcher Russell Reeve were just one out away from winning and Erie had seven-hole hitter, Christian Kelly, who was 0-for-1, at the plate.
Erie’s Mike Rahrich was on second base and lured a throw from Pebley when he went halfway to third. Pebley, catching his first game this season, had already thrown out two baserunners but sent the throw into center field.
“He feels bad,” University coach Kenny Anderson said. “He’s a little more aggressive, and he’s got to understand that is exactly what they were trying to do, is get him to throw. We were focused on the batter, and he was more focused on the runner.”
Kevin Kosorok led off the Erie seventh with a single and moved to second when Justin Coots was hit by a Reeve pitch. Justin Slavin’s sacrifice fly to right brought in Kosorok.
“That’s the third game for us that has come down to the bottom of the seventh,” said Kosorok, who went 2-for-3 and scored twice. “We have the confidence. We know we can get it done in the bottom of the seventh.”
University got two hits apiece from Andy Eberhard, Dan Palmer and Reeve. Palmer started the seventh with a triple to right field and tied the score when Coots bobbled the relay throw from Bubba Baros.
“Through the course of the year, you’ll win some of those and you’ll lose some of those,” Green said. “This is a huge win for us.”
University 001 120 3 – 7 8 2
Erie 110 021 3 – 8 6 3
University – Eberhard ss 5-0-2-0, Pebley c 4-0-0-0, Palmer 1b 3-3-2-0, Sjoberg lf 1-2-1-0, Ru. Reeve p 2-0-2-2, Roche cr 0-1-0-0, Freemyer cf 2-0-0-0, Rusch ph 1-0-0-0, Archuleta 2b 2-1-1-0, Melendez rf 3-0-0-0, Stotts ph 0-0-0-0, Ra. Reeve 3b 3-0-0-1, Sullivan ph 0-0-0-0. Totals 26-7-8-3.
Erie – Kosorok lf 3-2-2-0, Coots 2b 3-2-1-0, Carlson 3b 2-1-1-2, Rahrich p-1b 3-1-1-1, Slavin dh 1-1-0-1, Rogers ss 0-0-0-0, Wade c 2-0-0-0, Kelly 1b-p 1-0-0-0, Baros rf 2-1-0-0, Fulton cf 3-0-1-1. Totals 20-8-6-5.
E – Coots 3; Ru. Reeve, Pebley. LOB – University 9; Erie 6. DP – Erie. SAC – Wade, Carlson, Slavin. 2B – Ru. Reeve, Sjoberg; Kosorok, Fulton. 3B – Archuleta, Palmer; Rahrich, Carlson. SB – Roche. CS – Sjoberg, Sullivan; Fulton.
Batteries – Ru. Reeve and Pebley; Rahrich, Kelly (5) and Wade. W – Kelly (1-0). L – Ru. Reeve (2-2). WP – Rahrich, Kelly. HBP – Stotts (by Kelly in seventh); Coots (by Ru. Reeve in seventh); Wade (by Ru. Reeve in seventh). Time – 2:04.
Jon E. Yunt can be reached at 303-954-1354 or jyunt@denverpost.com.
