BATAVIA, N.Y. - Walker Gourley knocked in his team-leading eighth run of the season with a triple in the fourth inning, and Luis Heredia allowed just one earned run over five innings, but the State College Spikes saw their five-game winning streak fall by the wayside with a 3-1 defeat at the hands of the Batavia Muckdogs on Tuesday night at Dwyer Stadium.
Heredia (0-1), the 17-year-old right-hander who is rated by Baseball America as the fifth-best prospect in the Pittsburgh Pirates system, yielded an unearned run in the first inning and an earned run in the second inning, but suffered no further damage on the scoreboard. The native of Mazatlan, Mexico suffered the loss after giving up eight hits but did not walk a batter while striking out three over his tenure on the mound.
Batavia (4-5) scratched its first run across in the opening inning after a one-out error and an RBI double by Garrett Wittels. The Muckdogs added a marker in the second inning when Jonathan Keener tripled off of Heredia with one out and scored on Jordan Walton's base hit one batter later.
State College (6-3) responded in the fourth inning when Yhonathan Barrios delivered a two-out single to right field and stole second base, setting the table for Gourley's RBI triple to cut the Batavia lead to 2-1.
However, the Spikes would not get any closer, as the Muckdogs added a run in the seventh inning on another run-scoring double by Wittels to put the score at its final margin.
Barrios was the lone Spike with multiple hits in the game, and has now collected four hits over the past two games after notching just one in the season's first week. Barrett Barnes was also hit by a pitch during the game, the New York-Penn League-leading fourth time he has been hit by a pitch this season.
Muckdogs starter Joe Cuda (1-0) earned the victory after yielding a run on five hits and a walk over five innings on the mound. Cuda also struck out a pair of batters. Yunier Castillo (2) picked up the save with a perfect ninth inning, including one strikeout.
Wittels ended the game 3-for-4 with his two doubles and two runs batted in.
Wednesday, the Spikes and Muckdogs meet in the rubber match of their three-game series at Dwyer Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m. State College will have right-hander Clay Holmes (1-0) on the mound. The 19-year-old earned the win in his professional debut this past Friday, going five innings against Mahoning Valley. Batavia will counter with left-hander Daniel Bibona (0-0).
The Spikes will complete a road trip through Batavia and Mahoning Valley over the next four nights before returning home.
