by Namur Angels, www.namur-angels.be
Greys Hand Angels First Loss
The Antwerp Royal Greys handed the Namur Angels their first loss of the season this Saturday in a 6-2 decision. The Angels, coming off two consecutive weekend sweeps, were unable to produce any offense for starting pitcher Nicolas Migeot. Collectively, the Angels only mustered three hits against Greys starting pitcher Eder Sarao Hernandez, who went eight complete innings giving up two runs on three hits, struck out five and walked five.
Namur scored the two lone runs in the third and sixth innings, respectively. In the top of the third, catcher Tom Gerard drew a leadoff walk, followed by the same from centerfielder Thomas Vandenabeele. After Greg Van Sickler was unable to advance the runners on a line drive out to left field, designated hitter Jake Hummel drew a walk to load the bases. Williams Rosario then hit a groundball to third baseman Robin Roevens, whose only play was to retire Rosario at first, thus scoring Gerard from third on the fielder’s choice. In the sixth inning, Williams Rosario led off with a base on balls. Theodore De Bellefroid then hit a groundball to second base that Tom Van Extergem could not handle, and both runners were safe. Jerome Sana then advanced both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Adrien Geuquet stepped to the plate and delivered a groundball to shortstop in which the only play was at first base, scoring Rosario from third.
Despite several hard hit balls for outs, the Angels offense was quite lackluster against Greys pitcher Hernandez and could not find an answer for the right hander. The two teams complete their weekend series on Sunday in Antwerp.
Hummel K’s 13 in Angels Victory
After a dreary Saturday performance, both the Angels offense and defense came alive on Sunday to split the weekend series with the Antwerp Royal Greys. Namur pounded out 15 hits for 15 runs in a 15-0 blowout. However, the highlight of the contest came from the pitcher’s mound.
Jake Hummel threw seven flawless innings of baseball to pick up his third win of the season. The game was called in the seventh inning due to the mercy rule. In the complete game performance, Hummel gave up six hits, no runs, struck out 13, and did not walk a batter. The right hander established his dominance early in the game as the first seven outs recorded were via strikeout.
With a tremendous performance on the mound, the bats came alive as well for the Angels. Every Angel starter had at least one hit in the game with six of the nine recording two hits each. Namur also used the long ball effectively as both Hummel and Greg Van Sickler went deep. Hummel hit a two run blast in the second and Van Sickler a solo shot in the seventh. The Angels jumped on Greys starting pitcher Brian Van Gaever right out of the gate when Theodore De Bellefroid and Van Sickler led off the game with back-to-back walks. After Hummel flew out to right, Angel Rosario laced a line drive single up the middle to plate both De Bellefroid and Van Sickler, who advanced into scoring position on wild pitches. Namur sent all nine starters to the plate in the first inning and posted a four run first.
The Angels rebounded from a dismal Saturday to split with the Royal Greys. With an outstanding pitching performance from Hummel, Namur played nearly spotless defense and sprayed the ball to all aspects of the park to climb atop the league standings with a 5-1 record. The Angels are back in action against the Hoboken Pioneers (4-1) next weekend in Antwerp.