In today’s Match of the Day, Oosterhout Twins hosted UVV from Utrecht. In this eventful game with several (mental) errors and poor pitching, Twins stayed at the right side of the score.
UVV 6 – 7 Oosterhout Twins
It took Twins until the second inning to open the score. With the bases loaded and no outs, Gijs van Zalingen hit into a 6-3 double play that allowed Terrence Garcia to score the opening run. Marnix Ruben flied out to center field for the final out of the inning, in which Twins did not cash in a good opportunity to break the game wide open.
In the top of the third inning, UVV tied the game when, with runners on first and second, Quin Cotton singled to right field and drove in Malcom Marlin from second base. In the bottom of the same frame, Twins regained the lead. With two outs, back-to-back doubles by Luuk Bun and Axel Poesmans, drove in the go ahead run. In the bottom of the fourth inning, Twins had another good opportunity to extend their lead as it had runners in scoring position, but starting pitcher Sam van der Meer retired the next two batters on strikeouts.
In the top of the fifth inning, UVV took advantage of a struggling Raf Cocu. Throughout the first four innings, Cocu had problems finding the strikezone but nevertheless, he showed flashes of brilliance. Thanks to his defense, he managed to make it through four innings. In that fifth inning, UVV put runners on the corners. Quin Cotton took advantage of a sleeping defense, as he stole second base unimpeded. Jorge Espinal hit a fly ball, which appeared to be catchable, but dropped in front of the left fielder, and as a result, two runners could cross home plate to give UVV the lead. When Cocu walked Tijmen Takke, he was replaced by Jeffrey Levenstone. But on his turn, Levenstone also struggled to find he strikezone. He gave up three walks that allowed UVV to score two more runs. After facing four batters and striking out one, he was replaced by Simon Gross, who recorded the final out of the inning.
With runners in scoring position and one out in the bottom of the fifth, Terrence Garcia reached base on a fielding error by the shortstop, that allowed Yurdion Martie to score Twins’ third run.
After two scoreless innings, Twins finally bounced back in the eighth. With two outs and and the bases loaded, Railison Bentura singled home Jerzey van Gool and Gijs van Zalingen to tie the game at five. With another bases loaded situation, Luuk Visser walked in Ruben Marnix, to give Twins the lead again.
But in the top of the ninth, UVV tied the game. With one out and the bases loaded, Etienne van Tielraden drove in Timothy Rojas as he hit into a 6-3 double play. Twins then pushed for the winning run in the bottom of the ninth. With one out and the bases loaded, Marnix Ruben hit to the shortstop, who fired the ball to the catcher, who could tag out Terrence Garcia at home plate. Still with the bases loaded, Railison Bentura singled to right field to drive in the winning run.
Winning pitcher was Simon Gross, who pitched 4.1 solid innings in which he allowed one unearned run on two walks as he struck out four. Gijs van den Brink took the loss. He gave up the game winning run to Twins in the ninth on one hit and three walks as he struck out one in one inning and two batters faced.
Average wise, Yurdion Martie was the best hitter for Twins as he went 2 for 3 with a run scored, but the batter with the most impact today was Railison Bentura, who went 3 for 6 with three RBI.
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