Eagles win pitching duel with walkoff in 10

An unexpected pitching duel went in to the tenth inning as Lowuin Sacramento of the Zurich Challengers battled Andy Orfanakos of the Lucerne Eagles for the win in Game 2 of Saturday's doubleheader.

The Eagles won it on Alex Cruz Tifa's RBI-double with one out in the bottom of the tenth.

The Eagles opened the score in the first inning on Rudi Vargas' RBI-single, but that was all Sacramento would allow over the course of the next nine innings.

The Callengers didn't waste any time and scored an unearned run on a throwing error by first baseman Vargas. But they, as well, wouldn't score anymore the rest of regulation.

Sacramento and Orfanakos both ended up pitching complete games, with Orfanakos coming out on top. Both pitchers conceded six hits each, but Sacramento had fewer walks with three and more strikeouts with 11.

But it was a question of timing that tipped the scale in favor of the Eagles. The Challengers went 0-for-3 with runners in scoring position, while the Eagles had their only hit in 11 such chances when it mattered most.

From the second inning on through the ninth, the Eagles had four runners reaching as far as second base while the Challengers had just one in that period. Francisco Colindres reached third base on a wild pitch, but Jesus Martinez struck out looking for the third out to end the threat.

The Eagles had two players with two hits apiece in Tifa and Vargas, while the Challengers had only Eidrys Reyes with two hits.

Game notes
Reyes extended his hitting-streak to 19 games and put himself a single percentage point behind Robert Sedin for the team's lead (.471 to .470). …The game was the lowest-scoring game since May 18, 2014's 3-1 loss against the Therwil Flyers.