Italian Serie A leading Montepaschi Grosseto (15-7) took the opening game against T&A San Marino (8-14) Thursday night, 3-1, as Lincoln Mikkelson improved to 5-0 allowing only six hits and one run in a complete game win. Juan Figueroa struck out nine hitters over eight innings for San Marino.Giovanni Carraras and Frailyn Florian combined for a three-hit shutout as Danesi Caffe Nettuno (14-8) banged out 15 hits in an easy 10-0 win against De Angelis Godo (5-17) in game one of their three-game series.
In a battle of teams sporting identical 14-9 records, Cariparma Parma’s Javier Ortiz (5-1) outdueled Jesus Matos (5-2) of Italeri Fortitudo Bologna in a 2-1 nailbiter. Ortiz tossed seven shutout innings allowing only six hits while Matos surrendered two runs on five hits in six innings. Kelly Ramos added a home run and two RBI’s for Grosseto.
Finally, Avigliana Baseball (6-16) surprised defending champions Telemarket Rimini (13-9), 4-1, Thursday night as Tavarez Calderon collected his first win of the season tossing six innings and allowing only one run while fanning eight.
