State College Spikes Win Fifth Straight, 3-1, Over Connecticut

NORWICH, Conn. – Ronnie Williams delivered his fourth straight quality start with seven strong innings, and the State College Spikes took their fifth consecutive victory with a 3-1 win over the Connecticut Tigers on Monday night at Thomas J. Dodd Stadium.

Williams (3-1) yielded just one run on five hits, two walks and a hit batsman over seven innings. The right-hander recorded three strikeouts, as well, and retired 10 consecutive batters at one point.

The 2014 second-round draft choice of the St. Louis Cardinals has now gone at least seven innings or more in each of his last four starts, with a 1.53 ERA over 29 1/3 innings during that span.

State College improved to 18-6 with the victory, posting the best start after 24 games in franchise history. The Spikes have now embarked on three win streaks of four or more games this year, and have lost back-to-back games only once, when defeats at the hands of Hudson Valley on June 20 and 21 dropped them to 2-3 on the season.

The Spikes got on the board in the fourth inning when Ryan McCarvel walked and scored on Dylan Tice’s double. An ensuing error on the two-base hit then sent Tice to third, and he went on to score on Jeremy Martinez’s sacrifice fly one batter later.

Jose Martinez extended the State College advantage to 3-0 in the fifth when he brought in Tommy Edman with a single to left field. Martinez started the season 2-for-28 at the plate, but has now gone 13-for-28 for a .464 average over a seven-game hitting streak.

Connecticut (15-9) then got on the board thanks to a Tanner Donnels single to score Daniel Pinero in the fifth, but the Tigers were turned away with the bases loaded in the sixth and did not threaten again.

Brady Bowen (2) earned the save for the Spikes by finishing the game with two perfect innings. Bowen struck out three batters in the relief outing.

Gregory Soto (0-1) started and took the loss for Connecticut. Soto yielded all three State College runs, two of them earned on four hits and two walks while striking out three over five innings of work.

The Spikes now look to extend their winning streak further in the middle game of the three-game series in Connecticut. State College will send right-hander Bryan Dobzanski (2-1) to the mound to take on Tigers left-hander Austin Sodders (0-1).

Thursday, the Spikes return home to Medlar Field at Lubrano Park to start a three-game series against the Mahoning Valley Scrappers (Cleveland Indians). The trio of 7:05 p.m. games will include some of the biggest promotions of the season, with $1 Beer Thursday presented by BIG Froggy 101, Ghostbusters Night featuring a “State Puft Marshmallow Men”-Themed Jersey-off-the-Back-Auction presented by PSECU to benefit Children’s Miracle Network on Friday, and the return of the Cowboy Monkey Rodeo presented by Stone Valley Construction, LLC on Saturday.

Tickets to all three games, as well as every game on the Spikes’ 2016 home schedule, are currently on sale through the Spikes Box Office by calling (814) 272-1711 or by visiting in person. Fans can also buy and print single-game tickets by visiting StateCollegeSpikes.com.

Catch all of the action on Tuesday via the Spikes Radio Network, presented by Penn State Health, at 6:50 p.m. with Spikes Live, presented by Mount Nittany Health, on the air from Dodd Stadium. The Spikes’ radio broadcast can also be heard worldwide through the “Listen Live” link on StateCollegeSpikes.com, provided by the club’s flagship radio home, Newsradio 1390 WRSC, as well as the TuneIn Radio app.


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