At the B-Level European Championship in Karlovac, Croatia the final is already set. Slovakia won a key matchup over Bulgaria in the afternoon. Since they now own the tie-breaker over the Ukraine and Bulgaria they cannot be removed from the second seed even if they lose to Switzerland on Friday morning. Croatia meanwhile defeated the Ukraine in the evening game, improved to 4-0 and advanced to the championship game as well. In the third matchup on Thursday Switzerland prevailed over Slovenia for their first win of the week.
Switzerland – Slovenia 5-3
Just moments after Slovenia had tied the game in the top of the eighth, Switzerland answered with two runs in the bottom of same frame to prevail 5-3. A sac fly by Stefan Koller and a run by Reto Cola after a throwing error plated the two decisive runs of the game. A bases loaded walk and a single had tied the score. Jakob Trobec scored twice for Slovenia. Tobias Siegrist picked up the win in relief of a strong Andrea Girasole, who had struck out seven. Andrej Bizjak took the loss.
Bulgaria – Slovakia 10-12
Slovakia overcame a huge rally by Bulgaria to win 12-10 in the afternoon game in Karlovac. After Slovakia took a 12-3 lead in the top of the eighth, Bulgaria put six runs on the board in the eighth and brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth, but a groundout eventually ended the contest with Slovakia celebrating. Tomas Biskorovajny went 4-for-6 with a home run, three runs scored and four RBI. Krum Temelkov had three hits, two doubles, three runs scored and two RBI for Bulgaria. Dimitar Nassapov reached base four times. Adam Zverbik conceded seven hits, three runs and two walks in 7 1/3 innings for the win. Petyo Petkov got charged with the loss.
Croatia – Ukraine 5-4
Croatia got its fourth win in as many games with a 5-4 victory over the Ukraine in the third game of the day. A RBI double by Ross Vuckovich in combination with an error helped Croatia to score two runs and breaking a 2-2 tie. Andrija Tomic singled in another run in the seventh to provide much needed insurance as Dmytro Nelipa connected for a two-run shot in the eighth to bring the Ukraine within a single run. However they weren’t able to put another runner on base to settle for the loss. Matko Dabo pitched eight innings for the win. Serhiy Shtapura took the loss.
Standings:
|
Pos
|
Team
|
GP
|
WO
|
LO
|
AVG
|
GB
|
|
1
|
 Croatia |
4
|
4
|
0
|
1000
|
0
|
|
2
|
 Slovakia |
4
|
3
|
1
|
750
|
1
|
|
3
|
 Bulgaria |
4
|
2
|
2
|
500
|
2
|
|
4
|
 Ukraine |
4
|
2
|
2
|
500
|
2
|
|
5
|
 Switzerland |
4
|
1
|
3
|
250
|
3
|
|
6
|
 Slovenia |
4
|
0
|
4
|
0
|
4
|
Complete schedule, stats and live play by play are available through www.baseballstats.eu