Traverse City Pit Spitters sweep weekend set against Fond du Lac
Jun. 11—TRAVERSE CITY — The Pit Spitters had a nice crowd on hand Sunday as nearly 3,600 people came out to Turtle Creek Stadium to watch Traverse City's Northwoods League team pick up a 3-1 victory for a weekend sweep against Fond du Lac.
Dylan Carey put Traverse City up 1-0 on the Dock Spiders in the bottom of the first with a one-out single to right field that brought in Blake Bean. The Spiders knotted the ballgame at 1-1 with a bases-loaded walk from Pit Spitters starter Carson Fischer in the third.
Fischer got through four innings of one-hit ball, but a high pitch count caused by four walks and seven strikeouts forced an early appearance from the Pit Spitters' bullpen. Nate Blain came on to pick up the win, his third of the season, going 2.2 innings and allowing no runs on four hits with two punchouts and a walk.
The Pit Spitters took advantage of two walks in the bottom of the sixth after Brendan Guciardo drove in Kyle Hayes and Cole Prout — both beneficiaries of the free pass — with a double to right field to go up 3-1.
Mitch White locked down the ninth for the save. He allowed a leadoff single but struck out two of the next three to seal the win.
The Pit Spitters also picked up the win Saturday, scoring a baker's dozen-plus-one runs on a baker's dozen hits against the Dock Spiders in a 14-8 victory at Turtle Creek Stadium during the franchise's first 'Spit-tacular Saturday' of the season.
With the Dock Spiders up 3-0, Glenn Miller started the scoring for the Pit Spitters in the bottom of the fourth inning with a leadoff home run on the first pitch he saw. Traverse City scored three more runs in the inning to take a 4-3 lead.
The Pit Spitters eventually built a 6-3 lead, but the Dock Spiders scored three times in the top of the sixth inning to knot the game at 6-6. Traverse City answered quickly in its half of the frame, tallying five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to pull away at 11-6.
Miller rifled a double to open the inning that included a two-RBI triple from Andrew Mannelly and an RBI base knock from Blake Bean. The Dock Spiders collected eight runs on 14 hits, but that would not be enough as the Pit Spitters' offense helped get Pit Spitters starter Aaron Forrest off the hook after allowing three runs in two innings of work.
Pit Spitters reliever Aren Gustafason picked up his first win on the season. He tossed four innings and giving up four hits.
The Pit Spitters travel to Illinois to take on the Rockford Rivets for two games on Monday and Sunday. Josh Lanham (0-0, 2.45 ERA) gets the nod Monday, and Ethan Foley (0-1, 2.38 ERA) takes the mound for the start against the Rivets on Tuesday.
