The Mustangs tasted defeat for the first time since mid-April on Sunday, but still earned a valuable split with the London Mets at Finsbury Park.
Southampton’s six-game win-streak looked under threat in game one as the fired-up Mets jumped out to a 2-0 lead after two innings, helped by a lead-off home run from Alberto Caballero. Gary Davison soon found his rhythm for the Mustangs though, blanking London in the third and fourth innings. Meanwhile, Mets starter Pietro Sollecito was bamboozling the Southampton offense, retiring the first eight batters he faced and holding his opponents scoreless through the first four innings. The game was then completely turned by a wild fifth inning, in which the Mustangs finally strung some hits together. They capitalised on two errors for a five-run rally capped by a two-RBI single from Chuck Truelson. The two sides continued to trade blows, scoring a run apiece in the next two half-innings to make it 6-3. So it remained going into the bottom of the seventh, where Davison set Mustangs bums squeaking by walking the bases loaded. However, he worked himself out of the jam without further damage to seal a complete game win in which he gave up six hits and struck out eight. The Mustangs will feel their win was earned by the depth of their offense, with nine of the ten hitters they used registering hits during the game. Davison and Marius Urbanivicius had two each, and Justin Frosina contributed two RBIs.
Despite going 1-0 down early in game two, the Mets came back strongly behind a fine pitching performance from Daniel McAneney. They pressurised the Mustangs defense in the early innings, taking a 5-1 lead (including three unearned runs) after the third to chase Lee Ralph from the mound. His replacement, Alberto Rodriguez, was then greeted with two long balls in the fourth: a solo shot from Nick Talbert and a three-run blast from Jonathan Cramman. Rodriguez fared better with the bat in the game, going two-for-four with an RBI, but he received little support from his teammates who were unable to break out against McAneney. They finally showed signs of life after Noah Frankel took to the mound for the Mets in the seventh, but this time the rally was far too late as they fell short 10-5. Offensive highlights during the game were three stolen bases for Victor Aizpurua and two for Phil Johnson, but the Mustangs will rue the seven errors which prevented them exerting control over the Mets hitters in this game.
Something to think about for the Mustangs as they take a week off before returning to action at Croydon (again) on the 3rd June.
Play of the day: Chuck Truelson’s two-run single with two outs in the fifth which was the decisive turning point in game one.
Player of the day: Gary Davison for his complete game win and several smoked line drives. He deserved more than the three hits he collected for the day.
Mustangs Reporter.
