BINGHAMTON, NY — A balanced attack drove the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (8-18, 38-56) to a 6-0 win over the Binghamton Rumble Ponies (15-12, 50-44) Tuesday at Mirabito Stadium. Nick Fraze, Hunter Gregory and Jimmy Burnette combined to shut out the Rumble Ponies, who managed two hits in the contest.
Third baseman Alex De Jesus finished 2-for-4 with a two-run double, while second baseman Cade Doughty drove in a run with his first Double-A triple in the Tuesday victory.
Fraze (W, 1-1) was in control from the start, as he struck out four of the first six batters he faced. The right-hander finished his Tuesday start with five strikeouts, and allowed two baserunners: one hit, and one hit batter. Gregory struck out the side in the sixth, then stranded multiple runners on base in both the seventh and eighth. Burnette tossed a scoreless ninth to seal the deal.
The New Hampshire offense packed an early punch against Binghamton starter Dakota Hawkins (L, 0-1). Two batters in, Josh Kasevich singled, his 100th hit of the season. Ryan McCarty was hit by a pitch and Rainer Nuñez walked to load the bases. De Jesus cracked a double into the gap which scored both Kasevich and McCarty. Nuñez advanced to third on the two-bagger, then scored on a sacrifice fly from Gabriel Martinez. After the game’s first action, the Cats led, 2-0.
Andres Sosa started off the top of the second with a walk, then the top of the order manufactured more offense. Devonte Brown singled, Kasevich walked, and the bases were juiced for McCarty. The Penn State-Abington product drilled a fly ball to deep left, a couple feet away from clearing the fence as New Hampshire’s first grand slam of the season. Instead, it was simply a long sacrifice fly, as Sosa jogged home to bump the Cats lead to 3-0.
After Fraze cruised through five, the Cats tacked one more run for good measure. De Jesus started off the top of the sixth against Binghamton reliever Junior Santos with a single, then Doughty barreled his RBI triple off the left field fence. De Jesus scored without a play at the plate. The next batter, Garrett Spain, brought Doughty home with a ground ball to second and advanced New Hampshire’s advantage to 6-0.