The Australian Baseball League continued with four games on Saturday. The Brisbane Bandits swept a doubleheader against the reigning champion Perth Heat. In game one James Schult and Justin Erasmus combined to allow just two hits and two walks in a 2-0 shutout. Cody Clark and CJ Beatty scored the two runs for Brisbane in the fourth. Warwick Saupold was charged with the loss.
In the second game Brisbane scored five runs in the seventh en route to an 8-5 victory. Perth tried to come back in the ninth, but even four runs weren’t enough for a comeback. CJ Beatty, David Sutherland and Ryan Battaglia hit homeruns to lead the way. Ryan Khoury went deep for the Heat. Ryan Searle struck out seven in eight innings of one-run ball to earn the win. Daniel Schmidt took the loss.
The Adelaide Bite won a slugfest 12-6 against the Melbourne Aces. Jeremy Cresswell went 3-for-5 with three runs scored out of the leadoff spot. Angus Roeger drove in three for the Bite. Brad Harman homered for the Aces. Elliot Biddle had three RBI. Stuttgart’s Richard Olson struck out three in two scoreless relief innings for the win. Adam Bright took the loss.
In the battle for first place the Sydney Blue Sox are back in sole possession with a 10-2 victory over the Canberra Cavalry. Four runs in the third and four in the eighth blew the score open. Mitch Dening scored twice and drove in four. Zachary Penprase crossed the plate three times. Brad Thomas pitched six solid innings for the win. Chris Motta gave up six runs (5 ER) on nine hits in four-plus frames for the loss.