From staff reports
STATE COLLEGE - The State College Spikes were strong in every phase of the game on Sunday evening, getting Alex Dickerson's first career home run, great pitching and phenomenal defense in a 5-1 win over the Brooklyn Cyclones at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park.
Dickerson, the Pittsburgh Pirates' third-round pick in the 2011 MLB Draft, drove an 0-2 pitch over the right field wall off of Brooklyn reliever Eric Beaulac to give State College (11-26) a 3-1 lead in the sixth inning. The Indiana University product added a double in the first inning and scored the Spikes' initial run when Chris Lashmet doubled him in one batter later.
Shortstop Ashley Ponce then joined Lashmet, State College's third baseman for the evening, in helping Spikes starter Zack Dodson and reliever Josh Poytress (1-2) hang onto the lead. Ponce had a hand in eight of the first 12 outs of the game, while Lashmet recorded six assists on ground ball outs in the first seven innings, including all three assists in the fifth.
Dodson and Poytress aided in their own cause, as well, with Dodson allowing just one run on six hits and a walk and a hit batsman over 4 2/3 innings. Poytress followed by shutting out Brooklyn (20-16) on one hit over 2 1/3 innings, recording a strikeout and his first professional victory.
The Spikes also scored a run in the third inning when Alex Fuselier tripled and scored on Samuel Gonzalez's RBI single. Gonzalez's base hit extended his home hitting streak to a Spikes-record 13 games.
State College completed the scoring in the sixth inning with two runs on a Carlos Mesa RBI single and a pair of Cyclones errors.
Brooklyn's only run came on Travis Taijeron's solo home run to left-center in the fourth inning off of Dodson.
Mitch Fienemann (5) earned the save with 1 1/3 perfect frames, striking out one. Fienemann owns all of the Spikes' saves in 2011.
Monday, the Spikes finish off the homestand with a 7:05 p.m. matchup against the Cyclones to complete their three-game series. State College will send right-hander Nick Kingham (1-2) to the hill. Kingham has gone five innings in four of his seven outings this season, and earned his first career win against Staten Island on July 15 with five shutout frames. Brooklyn will have left-hander Carlos Vazquez (2-2) on the mound.
