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AUGUSTA, NJ – The Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks could not conjure the offense needed and were defeated 5-1 by the Sussex County Miners before a crowd of 1,238 fans at Skylands Stadium on Friday evening.

Fargo-Moorhead was in search of it’s fifth consecutive win and were out to clinch back-to-back series wins for the first time all season, but Miners’ starter Jamie Walczak put any thought of that to rest. The right-hander went 8.2 innings for the second time this season, allowing one run on five hits with a pair of walks and eight strikeouts.

Walczak had RedHawks’ batters on the ropes all game, locating his fastballs and using his off-speed pitches effectively. He faced the minimum three batters in the first, fourth, fifth and eighth innings, including striking out the side in the fourth frame.

The RedHawks sent Tyler Alexander to the hill for his fourth start of the season. His last outing was against another Can-Am team in Ottawa, where Alexander went the distance but dropped a 1-0 decision. He entered today with an ERA just below two, but Sussex County got to him early and he lasted five innings, giving up four runs (all earned) on seven hits with five walks and four strikeouts.

The Miners would score right away in the home half of the first. Leadoff batter Johnny Bladel walked to start the game followed by a Sergio Miranda single. Kenny Bryant would proceed to ground into a 6-3 double play started by Zach Penprase but Bladel would easily advance to third. The former big leaguer Reggie Abercrombie stepped to the plate next and delivered an RBI single plating Bladel making it 1-0.

Sussex County would add another in the second. Ryan Pineda lead off with a single and would advance to second as David Thaut took a base on balls. Jayson Hernandez and Bladel would walk back-to-back scoring Pineda making it 2-0. With one out and the bases loaded, Miranda aided Alexander by grounding into the 4-6-3 double play ending the frame.

Fargo-Moorhead would score its lone run in the third inning. Frank Salerno stretched a single into a double to start. The next batter, Drew Muren, would lace a base hit to right scoring Salerno from second making it 2-1.

Sussex responded again in the third. Kenny Bryant led off with a single and would later be driven in on a sacrifice fly from Pineda pushing the lead to 3-1.

The Miners would add insurance runs in the fifth and the eighth. In the fifth it was Kenny Bryant leading off the inning again. He scooted to first after a dropped strike three and Sussex County would cash in later in the frame on another sac fly from Pineda making it 4-1. The insurance run in the eighth came off a Jayson Hernandez RBI single scoring Pineda, who finished the game going 2-for-2 with two RBIs and two runs scored.

Chad Mozingo was the lone RedHawk to have a multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 on Friday night. His .315 season average is a team high.

Tyler Alexander (0-3, 2.61 ERA) is still winless, while Jamie Walczak (1-1, 1.23 ERA) picks up his first win of the season. Joe Testa picked up his first save of the season while only facing one batter.

Fargo-Moorhead is now 18-35 while Sussex County improves to 19-28. The loss snaps a four game winning streak, and Alexander’s outing is the first time in seven games that a RedHawks starter hasn’t exited with a quality outing statistically speaking. The RedHawks will send Taylor Stanton (2-1, 3.75 ERA) to the hill tomorrow night at 6:05 p.m. aiming to claim their second straight series. The Miners will counter with right-hander Josh Wood (4-1, 4.93 ERA). Pre-game begins at 5:45 p.m. central time with Jack Michaels on the call.

Game Date: 07/17/2015

Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks  1 AT :Sussex County Miners  5

                                 YTD                                   YTD
Fargo              AB  R  H BI   AVG  Sussex County      AB  R  H BI   AVG
D.Muren CF          4  0  1  1  .254  J.Bladel LF         3  1  1  1  .391
Z.Penprase SS       4  0  0  0  .262  S.Miranda 2B        5  0  1  0  .167
C.Mozingo LF        4  0  2  0  .315  K.Bryant 1B         4  2  1  0  .286
J.Staley C          3  0  1  0  .238  R.Abercrombie CF    4  0  3  1  .400
J.Dunigan RF        4  0  0  0  .207  R.Mathews RF        4  0  1  0  .273
T.Peterson 1B       3  0  0  0  .176  R.Pineda DH         2  2  2  2  .444
F.Hall 3B           2  0  0  0  .105  D.Thaut 3B          2  0  0  0  .095
C.Andrus DH         3  0  0  0  .250  C.Morales SS        3  0  0  0  .150
F.Salerno 2B        3  1  1  0  .269  J.Hernandez C       3  0  1  1  .294
                   30  1  5  1                           30  5 10  5

Fargo                0 0 1   0 0 0   0 0 0 -  1  5  0
Sussex County        1 1 1   0 1 0   0 1 x -  5 10  1
2B--C.Mozingo (21), F.Salerno (7). RBI--D.Muren (16), J.Bladel (2),
R.Abercrombie (5), R.Pineda  2 (6), J.Hernandez (3). SF--R.Pineda 2 (3).
CS--S.Miranda (1). E--J.Walczak (1). 
LOB--Fargo 4, Sussex County 9. DP--Z. Penprase(SS) - T. Peterson(1B), S.
Miranda(2B) - C. Morales(SS) - K. Bryant(1B), F. Salerno(2B) - Z.
Penprase(SS) - T. Peterson(1B), S. Miranda(2B) - C. Morales(SS) - K.
Bryant(1B). 
                                                                YTD
                                 IP   H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR     ERA
 Fargo
T.Alexander (L,0-3)             5.0   7   4   4   5   4   0    2.61
B.Waite                         3.0   3   1   1   1   4   0    4.61
                                8    10   5   5   6   8   0
 Sussex County
J.Walczak (W,1-1)               8.2   5   1   1   2   8   0    1.23
J.Testa (S,1)                   0.1   0   0   0   0   1   0    0.00
                                9     5   1   1   2   9   0
WP--T.Alexander 2 (4), B.Waite (1), J.Walczak (3). PB--J.Staley.
SO--D.Muren, C.Mozingo, J.Staley 2, J.Dunigan 3, C.Andrus 2, J.Bladel 2,
K.Bryant, R.Abercrombie, R.Mathews, D.Thaut, C.Morales, J.Hernandez.
BB--J.Staley, F.Hall, J.Bladel 2, D.Thaut 2, C.Morales, J.Hernandez.
BF--T.Alexander 26 (181), B.Waite 12 (60), J.Walczak 31 (56), J.Testa (6).
P-S--T.Alexander 96-58, B.Waite 17-14, J.Walczak 73-55, J.Testa 1-1. 
T--2:32.  A--1238

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