Washington Takes Care of Business in Home Opener
WASHINGTON, Pa. (May 16) - The Washington Wild Things completed their third win of the season in a home-opening victory over the New York Boulders at Wild Things Park on Tuesday. Led by stellar performance in the batters’ box, the Wild Things accumulated 10 hits and five walks while combining a solid bullpen performance from four different relief pitchers with a strong start from Greg Loukinen en route to a 6-2 win.
With the win, the Wild Things take the first game of a three-game series and improve to 3-1 as New York drops to 2-2.
Washington starter Greg Loukinen was awarded the win, his second on the season, with five innings pitched, two hits, three walks and three strikeouts. The losing pitcher for the Boulders, Ryan Munoz, pitched six innings and allowed seven hits, three earned runs and posted seven strikeouts.
New York loaded the bases in the top of the first inning against Washington (3-1) starter Greg Loukinen, but after scoring no runs, the Wild Things answered with one run on three hits highlight by an RBI single for catcher Melvin Novoa in the bottom half.
After stranding two on base in the bottom of the second, the Wild Things held New York scoreless in two straight innings before extending their lead to 2-0 in the bottom of third inning, with Novoa’s second RBI of the game and the second earned run against Boulders’ starter Ryan Munoz.
Loukinen dealt quickly through the fifth, but Washington reliever Stephen Knapp stepped on the bump in the top of sixth, allowing two hits before reliever Andrew Mitchell came in to maintain the shutout with a strikeout.
Washington extended its advantage to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the sixth with its seventh hit of the night, a long leadoff solo home run from right fielder Anthony Brocato: his first of the season.
After a clean top of the seventh for Mitchell on the mound, Washington got three more hits in the bottom half, which was capped off by the second hit and third RBI of the night for Novoa, putting the Wild Things up 4-0. The batting barrage continued with the next two batters, as first baseman Andrew Czech walked with the bases loaded to bring in a run before a sacrifice fly from Brocato scored another, putting Washington ahead 6-0.
New York answered to get on the board in the top of the eighth, as second baseman Tucker Nathans hit a two-run home run to break the shutout, cutting the deficit to four runs, at 6-2.
The Boulders rallied with a leadoff hit in the top of the ninth, but a groundout into a double play stifled their momentum, as Washington closed out the 6-2 win. Abraham Sequera got two hits and scored two runs along while Washington grabbed a multi-hit game and 3 RBI from Novoa.
The Wild Things and Boulders will face off in the second game of the three-game series Wednesday, with first pitch at 6:05 p.m. at Wild Things Park. It’s the first Senior Slugger Program Wednesday, presented by AARP Pennsylvania, of the summer, where fans 50 and older get in for free. Fans can also enjoy $1 hot dogs courtesy of Berks. Tickets are available at tickets.washingtonwildthings.com or at the TicketSmarter Box Office.
