| Saturday, September 17, 2011 For Immediate Release |
Contact: Jesse Goldberg-Strassler ( 517) 485-4500, extension 233 |
River Bandits sweep Lugnuts for 2011 MWL title
DAVENPORT, IA – The Quad Cities River Bandits swept their way to the 2011 Midwest League Championship, defeating the Lansing Lugnuts 6-3 in Game 3 on Saturday night at Modern Woodmen Park to complete a perfect postseason.
The Lugnuts finish the season as the Eastern Division Champions, but lost three close games in the finals.
Lansing jumped on the board early, with Michael Crouse stroking a double to start the game and then coming home to score on a groundout from Jake Marisnick.
Just like the first two games of the series, the River Bandits erupted to take the lead right back and never relinquished it.
Quad Cities scored two quick runs against Marcus Walden (Loss, 1-1) to counter the first inning Lansing strike, then added another in the second on a two-out single by Kolten Wong. Geoff Kline tacked on an important insurance run with a solo home run in the sixth.
The Lugnuts didn’t go down without a fight, scoring two runs against Trevor Rosenthal (Win, 2-0) in the seventh, with Matt Nuzzo providing the knockout blow with an RBI double. After an RBI groundout by Jonathan Jones, Drew Benes wiggled his way out of first and third situation to end the threat.
The Bandits struck right back with two runs off reliever Dustin Antolin, with Jonathan Rodriguez’s two-run double driving the final nail in the coffin.
Lansing loaded the bases in the ninth against Dean Kiekhefer (Save, 4), but Marcus Knecht flew out to left field to end the season.
Oliver Dominguez finished the game 2-for-4 with a double, while Carlos Perez added a two-hit effort with a run scored.
The River Bandits’ offense was lead by Wong, Kline, and Oscar Taveras, who all notched two-hit games, with Wong and Taveras scoring two runs.# # #
