Bridgewater, NJ-   The Somerset Patriots (24-28, 66-56) defeated the Lancaster Barnstormers (30-23, 68-55) 6-1 before 6,004 fans at TD Bank Ballpark on Thursday evening.

The Patriots took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI double by Mark Minicozzi and an RB single by Carlos Guzman.

Garrett Weber’s solo home run (14) in the top of the third inning cut the lead in half.

Minicozzi answered with a solo blast of his own (6) to make the score 3-1 in favor of Somerset.

“I just went up there and tried to do as little as possible and let the pitches come to me,” said Minicozzi, who finished the game 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI. “Luckily I got two pitches over the plate and was able to do some damage with them.”

The Patriots extended the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning on an RBI single by Alfredo Rodriguez for a 4-1 advantage.

RBI base hits by Aharon Eggleston and Rodriguez added two more runs to Somerset’s lead in the bottom of the sixth inning for the 6-1 final.

Dustin Molleken (3-1) picked up the win with a scoreless inning pitched. Tommy Shirley (3-5) took the loss, allowing four runs on nine hits in five innings pitched.

The 2017 Somerset Patriots Season presented by Ford will continue on the road until Friday, September 8^th when the team returns to TD Bank Ballpark for a 7:05 pm game against the York Revolution. The game features Back To School Night with Folders for the first 1,000 Kids presented by Somerset County Education Association. For tickets, visit www.somersetpatriots.com.