It’s the moment every baseball player dreams of: tie game, bottom of the ninth inning, bases loaded with a chance to be the hero.
Unfortunately for Dirtbags right fielder Richard Prigatano, he had nothing to do with the game-winning run in the Dirtbags 4-3 victory over No. 28 Indiana.
Prigatano was at the plate when the Dirtbags winning run came in to score Friday, but he didn’t even have to swing the bat.
The inning started off with a leadoff pinch-hit single by Colby Brenner. After a bunt, Garrett Hampson hit a ground ball to short and beat the throw to first. Michael Hill was intentionally walked to load the bases, and Prigatano came up with the chance to be the hero. Hoosiers pitcher Scott Effross fired back to pitch, but the ball got past his catcher and Brenner came home to send the Dirtbag faithful home with a win.
“It’s a huge win,” Brenner said after the game. “Great start to the series.”
The game didn’t start so great for the Dirtbags, who found themselves in an early 2-0 hole. The Hoosiers struck first in the top of the second. Third baseman Dustin DeMuth dropped a perfect bunt down the third base line, and was driven in on a two-out single by Tim O’Conner. They added a second in the top of the fourth inning on a bases loaded single, but Dirtbags right fielder Hill threw out a runner at home to end the threat.
Those were two of the three runs given up by Dirtbags starter Nick Sabo, who had yet another solid Friday night outing. Sabo went 6.2 innings and allowed the three runs on seven hits.
“They’re really aggressive,” head coach Troy Buckley said. “I thought [Sabo] got a little defensive and a little cautious. He ran himself into a little bit of a longer inning, but for the most part he gave us a chance to win and that’s what you’re asking him to do.”
With two out in the bottom of the fourth, Ino Patron hit two-out double to right field that finally got the Dirtbag faithful on their feet. The next hitter, Zack Rivera, hit what should have been the third out of the inning, but Long Beach native Brad Hartong failed to make the play in left and Patron scored from second. The next batter, Alex DeGoti, drove in Rivera on a double of his own.
Both offenses remained quiet until the bottom of the sixth, when right fielder Richard Prigatano crushed the first pitch he saw over the wall in left field. The home run was the third of the season for the Dirtbags, the first for Prigatano and the third of his Dirtbag career.
The Hoosiers tied the game up in the top of the seventh, when Sabo led off the inning by hitting Casey Smith. After a sacrifice bunt and an error, Kyle Schwarber hit a scoring single to right to tie the game at three.
“We talk about giving blows and taking blows,” Buckley said. “We took a few, they got some two out hits. We got one back, we got some help with Rivera’s ball lost. It was good man, it was a good game.”
