Baseball: Southampton pitchers clean up in sweep

Having lost 10 of their last 12 Atlantic Collegiate Baseball League games, the Southampton Breakers were in need of a pick-me-up, and that’s just what starting pitchers Jared Wagner and John Molloy provided on Tuesday.

Those two, along with game two closer James McMahon, combined to give up just one run in the twinbill with North Fork, and the Breakers’ offense showed signs of coming out of its funk in Southampton’s 6-1 and 1-0 victories.

The Breakers improved to 7-10 with the wins. They are a half game out of fourth place and two games out of second. North Fork still maintains the Hampton Division lead, holding an 11-7 record.

Wagner started things off with a complete-game four-hitter in game one. He struck out six and only a two-out rally, capped by Ryan Brockett’s run-scoring single, prevented Wagner from recording the summer’s first complete-game shutout.

Wagner had more breathing room to work with thanks to the Breakers’ four-run sixth. Steve Schrenk singled in two runs, and Robb Scott and Tito Marrero followed with run-scoring singles as well. That added to Southampton’s 2-0 edge, established in the fourth when Scott and Stuart Turner drove in runs.

Altogether, the Breakers had 10 hits, led by two from Turner, Marrero and Steve Harrington. Brockett had two of the Ospreys’ four hits in the game.

In game two, Southampton got on the scoreboard early when Schrenk doubled over the left fielder’s head and raced home on a single by Brant Whiting. That run ended up standing up for the Breakers, although North Fork nearly tied and went ahead in the seventh.

Molloy took a no-hitter into the fifth inning; it ended on a single by Chris Hueth. However, Hueth was caught stealing, and the shutout remained through six innings after a 4-6-3, inning-ending double play.

Southampton ran into more trouble in the seventh when Molloy allowed a leadoff single to Ryan Williams. After McMahon came on in relief, Matt Carroll singled to put runners at the corners with nobody out. However, Carroll was caught stealing, and McMahon induced a popout by Hueth and got Cody Perkins to strike out to end the game.