Mud Hens late rally falls short to IronPigs. 

Allentown, PA - A Mud Hens late rally in the seventh inning fell just short to the IronPigs, 5-4. A game highlighted by back and forth scoring turns up an unfortunate loss for the Mud Hens.

Hao-Yu Lee, batting leadoff, wasted no time scoring for the Mud Hens, with a solo homer to right field, to put the Mud Hens in the lead, 1-0.

With the Mud Hens going into the outfield, Trei Cruz started off defensively, with a throw to first baseman, Andrew Navigato, retiring the first batter of the lineup for the IronPigs. José Urquidy then continued defensive efforts with back-to-back strikeouts for a 1-2-3 first inning.

In the second inning, offensive efforts from the Hens continued, with Akil Baddoo hitting a ball through an infield window to score Navigato, adding one run to the lead, 2-0.

The Hens quickly put away the IronPigs in the second inning, with another 1-2-3 to close out the inning. With a strikeout from Urquidy, and defensive plays by both Baddoo and Lee, the Hens held a 2-run lead entering the third inning.

A sharp line drive from Gage Workman led the Hens into the third, with a leadoff triple on the first hit of the inning.

Strong defensive efforts from the Mud Hens continued in the third. With a quick fly out from Akil Baddoo to retire the first batter for the IronPigs. The inning was closed out by a 110mph grab by Jace Jung to retire the IronPigs and maintain the lead for the Hens.

A quiet fourth inning offensively for the Mud Hens was followed by a pitching change. Chase Lee came in to replace Urquidy to start off the bottom of the fourth. Urquidy finishes tonight’s game with 3 innings pitched, 28 strikes on 39 pitches and 3 strikeouts.

Going into the fifth inning, the IronPigs responded with a hit to center field, scoring a runner on base, cutting the Mud Hens lead to 1-run. An interesting turn of events at home leads to an IronPigs runner called out for interference, ending the inning for the Hens with only one run given up.

The hits picked back up for the Mud Hens in the sixth inning, with a single line drive to center field for Riley Unroe. A single from Tomás Nido brought two Hens on base.

However, the IronPigs pressed on the gas, scoring 4 runs in the sixth inning. Making quick work of scoring opportunities, the Iron Pigs closed out the inning up 5-3, with a line drive to Navigato closing out a long inning for the Mud Hens.

Unroe got work started for the Mud Hens in the seventh with a line drive to right field, scoring both Cruz and Gage Workman, cutting the deficit to 1-run, with the Iron Pigs leading going into the bottom of the seventh, 5-4.

With the Hens 1-run from the lead, the IronPigs took the field for the seventh, however the Mud Hens quickly rained on the IronPigs’ parade with a quick 1-2-3 to close out the inning.

Down by 1 run, the Mud Hens entered the ninth looking to score, with Jung landing a single hit on the first at-bat of the inning, however the IronPigs made a 4-6-3 play to end the game.

The Mud Hens look to close the road series against the IronPigs tomorrow, September 7th, at Coca-Coca Park in Allentown, PA. First pitch is set for 1:35 p.m.