Slovenia showed that it will be a force with which to be reckoned in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, when it became one of four teams with a win in the European Baseball Championship B-Pool, while Serbia evened its record after a ninth-inning comeback saw it eke out a win against Romania.
Boasting a squad much of which has played together for a half-decade, Slovenia notched 15 hits, including 5 doubles, adding 10 walks and eight stolen bases in a blowout victory that was already in the books before a nine-run ninth. Žan Primožič led the way with four hits, including a two-bagger, a stolen base, three runs, and two ribbies. Rok Čuček had a double and two singles, driving in three, while Žiga Verbek started the day in center, roping a double, drawing three walks, swiping a pair of bags, and scoring three runs. With the score 9-4, he then came in to close out the game, punching out two in a pair of perfect frames. Jaka Smolnikar was solid as the starting pitcher, firing 4.1 shutout innings. Ben Bové and Samu Ropo had two hits for Finland.
In the earlier game, Serbia held a precarious 3-2 lead heading into the ninth, having earlier overcome a 2-1 advantage by Romania through four. Still, with the top of the order due up for the Blue, Yellow, and Red, a bit of insurance would come in handy. Serbia started with three consecutive singles to score one before Andrew Rajkovich stepped up and launched a two-run bomb to left center. An error and another base knock would plate two more, and Serbia held off a rally after Romania finally got to Stefan Živić, who did a hero’s work by throwing 7.1 innings of relief without allowing an earned run, striking out seven. Sava Dupor came in from the bullpen for the save, getting two quick outs to end the frame.
Rajkovich blasted a single and a double in addition to his longball, plating four and scoring twice. Nikola Prodanovic had a two-bagger and a pair of bingles. Razvan Ivan came up clutch for the second-straight day for Romania, knocking a two-base hit and a single, driving in two of his team’s three runs. A day after going yard twice, Eduard Pîrvu saw almost nothing to hit, but collected a single and three walks, scoring twice. The right-hander went the distance for Romania, tossing 154 pitches over nine innings, issuing five earned runs on just one free pass and 11 hits, registering nine Ks.
Box scores are available here [link]. Previous coverage includes: Preview [link], Day 1 [link]. See also coverage of the Baseball Euros Poland Qualifier: Day 2 [link].
Results and Schedule
July 28
Serbia 8 – Romania 3
Slovenia 18 – Finland 4
July 29
Finland – Serbia
Bulgaria – Slovenia
Standings
| Team | W-L | RF | RA |
| Bulgaria | 1-0 | 10 | 5 |
| Slovenia | 1-0 | 18 | 4 |
| Romania | 1-1 | 16 | 11 |
| Serbia | 1-1 | 13 | 13 |
| Finland | 0-2 | 7 | 31 |