Game Recap - Bandits beaten by the long ball, lose 6-2 to Plum City.

The St. Croix River Bandits (1-1 conf, 2-1 overall) battled some tough competition Sunday, the bats of the Plum City Blues. The Blues had 2 home runs that accounted for 5 of their 6 runs, the wind was blowing out Sunday, but the Bandits could not capitalize. The Blues struck first with a Tony Garner, two-run shot off of starting pitcher Jay Gagner. Gagner pitched 7 strong innings only giving up those 2 runs, and 3 hits total while striking out 12. The Bandits came back in the bottom of the 6th inning, drawing the bases loaded with 3 walks in an inning where Blues pitcher Tony Garner started to fatigue as he passed the 100 pitch mark. Jesse Hartel came through with a 2-out, 2-run single, tying the game at 2-2. The Bandits threatened again in the 7th and 9th inning but could not get another run across the plate. Brandon Pederson entered the game in the 8th inning. He fell behind and walked the first batter, the next batter reached on by an error. Pederson struck out the third batter and then gave up a run scoring single before Cory Breidung hit a 3-run homerun to break the game open. Jim Rochford pitched a scoreless 9th to finish the game.

The Blues played a great game, the Bandits made some mental mistakes at the plate and on the base paths, but played much better than a year prior where they lost an early home game 7-0 to a Braham team no longer in existence. Next game is @ Siren on Thursday May 22nd. Expected pitchers are Trevor Todd, Brandon Pederson, and Jim Rochford.

Notes/Highlights
*The Bandits got their 1st, and 2nd extra base hits of the year, courtesy of Troy DeSmet and Steve Siqueiros, who came about 3 inches from hitting the first Bandits homerun.
*Despite what the final score indicates, this was definitely the pitcher's duel we expected; both teams combined for a whopping 27 strikeouts. (there are only 27 outs per team in a 9-inning game)
*Another great crowd at SCF today, thanks to all of the fans who came out in the sub-par May weather.