Bridgewater, NJ- The Long Island Ducks (24-16, 60-50) defeated the Somerset Patriots (19-20, 61-48) 5-4 at TD Bank Ballpark on Thursday night.

The Patriots took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning on RBI doubles by Justin Trapp and Kyle Roller.

Olmo Rosario came home on a balk to make the score 3-0 in favor of Somerset after four innings of play.

The Ducks jumped in front in the top of the fifth inning on an RBI single by Delta Cleary Jr. and a grand slam by Marc Krauss (17) for a 5-3 lead.

“I think [starting pitcher] Will [Oliver] just got beat by one of their better hitters,” said Somerset Patriots pitching coach Cory Domel. “He lost control a little bit that inning and just couldn’t finish it off. But he competed and I’m proud of him for it.”

Somerset cut the lead in the bottom of the sixth inning on a passed ball that allowed Roller to score.

The Patriots got the tying run to second base in the bottom of the ninth, but failed to bring him home.

Wanel Mesa (1-0) picked up the win, allowing three earned runs on three hits in two innings pitched. Oliver (5-4) suffered the loss, allowing five earned runs on five hits and eight strikeouts over 4.2 innings pitched. Amalio Diaz earned his 11^th save of the season.

“Overall we were going up a good team that’s playing well right now. We fought, but the win just didn’t come up on the right end,” Domel added.

The 2017 Somerset Patriots Season presented by Ford will continue on the road until Friday, August 25^th when the team returns to TD Bank Ballpark for a 7:05 pm game against the Bridgeport Bluefish. The game features a Post Game Fireworks Show presented by Hunterdon Healthcare. For tickets, visit www.somersetpatriots.com.