Fans at Blagoevgrad Stadium were treated to an exciting doubleheader on the third day of the European Baseball Championship Bulgaria Qualifier. By the end of play, two teams had two wins, though only one was defeated, and Finland had been eliminated from contention for a spot in the final.
Finland – Serbia
In the opener, Finland took a 6-1 lead after two innings before Serbia stormed back with four in the third and two in fourth. Down 8-6 after five, Suomen Baseball managed one, but Serbia plated two and held on for the win.
Nikola Prodanovic homered for the second time in three games as part of a 3-for-5 effort Serbia, while Andrew Rajkovich continued to former a lethal combination in the three-spot behind Prodanovic, also finishing 3-for-5 and adding two stolen bases. Cleanup hitter Alex Rivera also settled on that figure and, like the two in front of him, scored twice, though he added two ribbies. Nikola Vasić had a double, a single, and two RBI. Nooa Määttä had a triple and a walk, scoring two runs, while Ben Bové had two singles, a pair of stolen bases, and two runs.
After coming in from right field, Määttä was nigh unhittable over the last two innings for Finland, registering all six of his outs by K and keeping Serbia off the board. Meanwhile, Dušan Karić and Aleksandar Stefanović formed a two-headed monster out of the bullpen for Bejzbol Srbija, with the former going 3.2 innings and the latter 3.1, both permitting just one run. Karić earned the win and Stefanović the save.
Bulgaria – Slovenia
In a back-and-forth contest that befitted two undefeated teams, the host nation took a 3-1 lead in the third. It then alternated single runs with Baseball Slovenia until near the end, before tacking on a couple of insurance runs.
Panayot Zhaltov was excellent on the mound for Bulgaria against the hot-hitting Slovenes, allowing on three runs on seven hits and a walk in eight innings. The right-hander threw 128 pitches and struck out nine, adding two hits and a stolen base from the leadoff spot. Nikolay Karashtranov also had two hits, while Michael Tchavdarov and Evgenii Chernozemsky—who closed out the game with a scoreless ninth for the save—both had doubles.
Tevž Gantar pitched a complete game in the loss. Žiga Lešnjak had two hits for Slovenia.
Box scores are available here [link]. Previous coverage includes: Preview [link], Day 2 [link]. See also coverage of the Baseball Euros Poland Qualifier: Day 3 [link].
Results and Schedule
July 29
Finland 8 – Serbia 10
Bulgaria 6 – Slovenia 3
July 30
Romania – Slovenia
Finland – Bulgaria
Standings
| Team | W-L | RF | RA |
| Bulgaria | 2-0 | 16 | 8 |
| Serbia | 2-1 | 23 | 21 |
| Slovenia | 1-1 | 21 | 10 |
| Romania | 1-1 | 16 | 11 |
| Finland | 0-3 | 15 | 41 |