Ducks Avoid Elimination With 7-1 Win Over Patriots

Bridgewater, NJ – Facing elimination, the Long Island Ducks (1-2, 72-68) topped the Somerset Patriots (2-1, 77-63) 7-1 in Game 3 of the Liberty Division Series at Bethpage Ballpark on Friday evening.

“They came out ready to play and we were a little flat for some reason. I thought [starting pitcher Nick] Struck threw the ball well against us. These are two really good teams going at it and we have to come out ready to play tomorrow,” said Somerset Patriots manager Brett Jodie.

The Ducks took an early 1-0 lead on an RBI single by Fehlandt Lentini in the third inning.

Ruben Gotay added to Long Island’s lead with an RBI single in the fourth inning that made the score 2-0.

The big hit came in the sixth inning when Lew Ford hit a two-run home run (1) to straight away center that gave the Ducks a 4-0 advantage.

The Patriots lone run came on a solo home run by Bryan LaHair (1) in the top of the seventh inning.

The Ducks padded their lead to 5-1 in the bottom of the seventh inning on Lentini’s second RBI single of the game.

Long Island plated two more runs in the eighth inning on two throwing errors and a Tyler Colvin home run (1) for the 7-1 final.

Struck (1-0) earned the win, allowing a run on four hits in seven innings pitched. Alexis Candelario (0-1) suffered the loss, allowing four runs on nine hits in six innings pitched.

“I was actually proud of the way [Candelario] threw the ball. He gave up a couple of RBI hits and obviously the two-run homer was the big one,” said Jodie. “For the most part, I thought he kept them off balance pretty good. They weren’t squaring it up early, but they were managing to find some holes and that’s the name of the game.”

The 2016 Somerset Patriots Season presented by Ford will continue on the road in Long Island for the remainder of the Liberty Division Series with Game 4 on Saturday evening at 6:35 pm. Should the Somerset Patriots advance to the Championship Series, the team will host Games 3-5 (if necessary) at TD Bank Ballpark beginning on Friday, September 30^th at 7:05 pm. For tickets, call 908-252-0700 or visit www.somersetpatriots.com. Download our Mobile App for free in the Apple or Android App store.