The Brisbane Bandits have maintained first place in the Australian Baseball League by winning three of four games this past weekend against the Melbourne Aces. They are now 8-2 in their last ten games and lead the standings with a two-game advantage over the Canberra Cavalry. Canberra split a four-game set against the Perth Heat. The Sydney Blue Sox won three of four against the Adelaide Bite in the third matchup.
Mainz Athletics right-hander Jan-Niclas Stoecklin from Germany rebounded from a couple of bad starts by pitching six scoreless innings in a rain-shortened 7-0 shutout of the Blue Sox over Adelaide on Sunday. He issued four hits and six walks, but kept the Bite off the board. Dutch right-hander Loek van Mil appeared twice in that series. On December 31 he conceded two walks in a scoreless inning. Two days later he surrendered three hits and three runs in two thirds of an inning to take the loss. His ERA climbed to 4.66 in the process. Germany’s Donald Lutz didn’t play for the Brisbane Bandits this past weekend. He hasn’t appeared in a game since December 27.
Standings:
| Club | W | L | PCT▼ | GB | Home | Away | L 10 | Streak | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brisbane Bandits | 27 | 17 | .614 | – | 16-4 | 11-13 | 8-2 | W1 | |
| Canberra Cavalry | 25 | 19 | .568 | 2.0 | 15-9 | 10-10 | 5-5 | L2 | |
| Adelaide Bite | 22 | 22 | .500 | 5.0 | 13-7 | 9-15 | 5-5 | L3 | |
| Sydney Blue Sox | 22 | 22 | .500 | 5.0 | 16-8 | 6-14 | 4-6 | W3 | |
| Perth Heat | 20 | 24 | .455 | 7.0 | 9-11 | 11-13 | 4-6 | W2 | |
| Melbourne Aces | 16 | 28 | .364 | 11.0 | 9-15 | 7-13 | 4-6 | L1 |