Chad Kruse broke the TCL record for at bats in a season on Wednesday night
With the Coppell Copperheads leading 4-2 on Wednesday night, the Generals stepped to the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning and scored five runs in the frame to take a 7-4 lead. Chad Kruse, who had broken the Texas Collegiate League record for at bats in a season earlier in the game, stepped to the plate with runners on first and second and drilled a triple into the left-centerfield gap to score two runs and tie the game at 4-4. Freddy Villalobos then launched his fourth home run of the season, a towering shot down the left field line that just sneaked inside the foul pole, to give the Generals the lead. Grayson Porter added an RBI single later in the inning.
Drama ensued in the top of the eighth as the Copperheads had two outs and a runner on first base when relief pitcher Dallas Ponder was lifted and Alex Jack entered the game. Jack walked the first two batters that he faced to load the bases. Generals' head coach Ryan Wagner put Covey Morrow, the Generals closer, into the game to try to stop the bleeding. Nike Smelser then hit a two-run single to right field to make it a 7-6 ballgame. Tyler Migl then lifted a high fly ball into the right-centerfield gap that was just out of the reach of Kruse who tried to make a diving catch. Two more runs scored on the double to give the Copperheads the 8-7 advantage as they went on to win the ballgame.
Generals' starter Sam Hansen turned in a solid performance, pitching six innings and allowing three runs on five hits with five strikeouts.
The Generals first two runs of the game were scored in the second inning on an RBI single by Trent Wagner and on a first-and-third double steal.
The Generals fell to 25-27 overall and 13-10 in the second-half. The Copperheads improved to 29-22 overall and 13-8 in the second-half.
Box Score: http://tcl-generals.bbstats.pointstreak.com/boxscore.html?gameid=48484
Article: http://www.advosports.com/news/2011/aug/04/generals_0804_147848/
Video: http://crossroadstoday.com/Generals-Pitcher-Sam-Hansen/10524168
Video: http://crossroadstoday.com/Generals-Fall-To-Coppell/10524338
