LAKE ELSINORE, CA - After last night’s disappointing 6-4 loss to the Grizzlies, the Storm responded with early offense and never looked back. Two runs in the second with two more in the fifth and sixth helped propel Lake Elsinore to a 4-2 win over Fresno.
The Grizzlies got on the board early. Fresno scored in the top of the second thanks to an RBI-single from Matt Klein. That’s two runs batted in across two games for the Grizzlies catcher. Lake Elsinore wasted no time on the response. A half-inning later, the Storm plated two runs on a sacrifice fly by Yimy Tovar and a rocket double by Dawson Willis. It wouldn’t be the last time that duo helped secure some offensive production tonight.
After the third and fourth innings went scoreless, Willis came up again in the fifth and crushed a mammoth solo-home run to left. The first baseman ripped it 102MPH off his bat and demolished the long ball 432 feet. An inning later after George Bilecki reached on an error, Tovar recorded his fifth hit and sixth RBI of the season with a single up the middle to give the Storm some more cushion and extend the Lake Elsinore lead to 4-1.
In the ninth, Sean Barnett entered to record the save. The Grizzlies made things interesting with a run-scoring single from Jeremy Ciriaco. That brought the tying run to the plate, but Barnett worked around the slight jam with an easy groundout and ended game two of six between the Storm and the Grizzlies in a 4-2 Lake Elsinore win.
The pitching staff for the Storm did their job. Starter Carlos Medina pitched three innings of one-run ball with four strikeouts. New addition Isaiah Lowe followed up with two perfect innings in relief. The right hander was credited with the win. Jordan Valenzuela and Brandon Langley each pitched shutout outings and gave way to Barnett to record his first save of the season.
Lake Elsinore returns to action on Thursday to face Fresno for game three of the six-game set from Diamond Stadium. This is the second series of the year between the Storm and the Grizzlies with the two teams splitting the series 3-3. The Storm will turn to RHP Lan-Hong Su (0-1, 4.02 ERA) to face Grizzlies RHP Easton Marks (3-2, 4.06 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. PT.
About the Lake Elsinore Storm
The Lake Elsinore Storm are the Single-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres in the California League. For more information on the Storm, visit milb.com/lake-elsinore. For information about tickets to any of Lake Elsinore’s 66 home games, call (951) 245-4487 or email: info@stormbaseball.com.