Friday was the first game day of the 2016/2017 season in the Australian Baseball League to feature all six teams. The Sydney Blue Sox downed the Adelaide Bite 13-4 in a slugfest. Malik Collymore hit a grand slam for Sydney in the fifth and drove in six runs overall. Tucker Neuhaus had three RBI. Connar O’Gorman had two hits, a run and a RBI for Adelaide. Craig Anderson earned the win, while Sean Callegari got charged with the loss.
The Brisbane Bandits defeated the Canberra Cavalry also in game two of their series. A three-run seventh inning broke a 2-2 tie en route to an 8-3 win for Brisbane. Mitch Nilsson went deep for the Bandits and crossed the plate three times overall. Kyle Perkins hit a two-run home run off Justin Erasmus in the fifth to tie the game for Canberra. Rhys Niit picked up the win, AJ Holland took the loss.
In the third matchup on Friday the Melbourne Aces beat the Perth Heat 8-1. After Melbourne took a quick 2-0 lead in the first, Perth cut the deficit to a run in the second. However the Aces added six unanswered runs in the third and fourth to run away with the win. Allan de San Miguel hit a three-run home run and drove in five runs total in the game. Mark Hamburger tossed five solid innings for the win. Nick Veale took the loss.