By Michael Heilman

The Sugar Land Skeeters took the series lead 2-1, defeating the Long Island Ducks 7-5 in front of 4,688 fans at Constellation Field Friday night.

The game was scoreless in the first three innings until the Skeeters got things going in the bottom of the fourth inning. The inning started with back-to-back walks one to center fielder Rico Noel and then left fielder Wynton Bernard. Second baseman Anthony Giansanti would then single to load the bases. The Skeeters would get on the board thanks to designated hitter Denis Phipps who singled out to center field to bring home both Noel and Bernard to give the Skeeters a 2-0. First baseman Alberto Cordero was up next but grounded out for out number one. Right fielder Zach Borenstein was the next batter who singled to center field to score Giansanti and extended the Skeeters lead 3-0. Shortstop Jason Martinson was the next batter to hit a single to center field, which brought Phipps home to add to the Skeeters lead 4-0. Catcher Cody Stanley would add one more run with his sacrifice fly out to center field to score Borenstein, and the Skeeters ended the inning with a 5-0 lead.

At the bottom of the fifth inning, the Ducks were able to get Javier Betancourt to fly out for out number one and Rico Noel to ground out for out number two then Wynton Bernard hit a single ground ball out past third base. After reaching first base, Bernard would later go on to steal second base. The Ducks made a pitching change at that point bringing in Anderson DeLeon. DeLeon would walk both Anthony Giansanti and Denis Phipps to load the bases. It didn’t get better for DeLeon as he would throw a wild pitch to allow Bernard to score and extend the Skeeters lead 6-0.

The Ducks bats woke up in the top of the seven-inning as catcher Hector Sanchez started the inning hitting a single out to right field. Third baseman Deibinson Romero flew out for out number one, then first baseman David Washington doubled out to right field to move Sanchez to third base. The Ducks got on the board with shortstop Vladimir Frias’s sacrifice fly out to left field, which scored Sanchez to cut the Skeeters lead 6-1. The next batter up for the Ducks was D’Arby Myers, who would hit a single to drive Washington home to make it a 6-2 Skeeters lead.

The Ducks continued to crawl back into this game in the top of the eighth inning Designated hitter Lew Ford doubled on a line drive out to right field. Left fielder L.J. Mazzilli would then hit a single out to center field to move Ford to third base. The ducks would cut the lead in half on a passed ball by Skeeters catcher Cody Stanley that allowed Ford to score to make it 6-3. Skeeters pitcher Ricardo Gomez would then throw a wild pitch and allow Mazzilli to move to third base. After Gomez walked Hector Sanchez, the Skeeters changed pitchers bringing in Dan Runzler. However, Runzler would then walk Deibinson Romero to load the bases. The next batter, Runzler would also walk David Washington to bring home Mazzilli to get the Ducks within two at 6-4.

The Skeeters started the bottom of the eighth inning with a Zach Borenstein walk. After Jason Martinson struck out, catcher Cody Stanley would hit a single on a sharp line drive to left field to move Borenstein to third base. The Skeeters would get an insurance run thanks to a wild pitch by Ducks pitcher Rob Rogers to make it 7-4 Skeeters lead.

The Ducks would make one last attempt to tie the game up in the top of the ninth inning. The Skeeters would bring in closer Felipe Paulino to finish the game. Paulino would get D’Arby Myers to strikeout for out number one. The next batter up was Rey Fuentes, and he would hit a double on a ground ball to right field. This would set up second baseman Steve Lombardozzi to single on a line drive out to center field to once again cut the Skeeters lead to 7-5. Paulino was able to get Lew Ford to strikeout for out number two. L.J. Mazzilli was the next batter up, and he would hit a single fly ball to center field to move Lombardozzi to third base. With the runners at the corners, Paulino was able to strikeout Hector Sanchez to end the game.

Skeeters pitch Daniel Schlereth (6.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 5 SO) was the winning pitcher while Felipe Paulino (1 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 SO) got the save.

With a 7-5 win, the Skeeters are now one win away from winning the Atlantic League championship for the second year in a row. They can clinch the title Saturday night at Constellation Field with first pitch set for 6:05 pm.