The Lucerne Eagles and the Zurich Challengers played two evenly matched games. In Game 1, however, the Eagles broke the deadlock in the seventh inning, giving the Eagles a mercy-rule win. In Game 2 the Eagles tied the game at the last minute, but the Challengers prevailed in extra innings, winning 4-3.
The Challengers presented the youngest Challengers team roster in this millennium in Lucerne. Only four regulars made the trip to central Switzerland. In return, the young talents received plenty of playing time. And the young guns performed well for long stretches. Although the visitors were unable to generate much offensive output, the game was tied 1-1 midway through the seventh inning. Starting pitcher Florin Kämpfer kept his team in the game. In five innings, he gave up only one unearned run and one hit, with seven walks and four strikeouts. The eternal Säntis Zeller was able to erase this 0-1 deficit in the seventh inning when he reached home on a wild pitch. But in the bottom half of the seventh inning, all the dams broke. The Challengers pitchers were no longer hitting the strike zone and loaded the bases multiple times, allowing the home team to score no fewer than ten runs on just three hits, leading 11-1 and ending the game early.
In Game 2 Tate Stone-Frisina took over on the mound. He sent almost half of the opposing batters he faced back to the dugout with strikeouts. He also provided the offensive power that had been lacking in the first game. His RBI double in the second inning gave the Challengers their first lead of the day. In the sixth inning Florin Kämpfer increased the lead to 2-0 with an RBI double. But the Eagles managed to tie the game at 2-2 in the final minute after an RBI double by Fernando Baez and an RBI single by Junior del Rosario with one out in the bottom of the seventh inning. This forced the game into extra innings. There, the Eagles made a fatal error, allowing Adderly Sarmiento to reclaim the Challengers’ lead scoring the 3-2, after which Carsten Zuber scored as well to make it 4-2. Although the home team cut the deficit in half to 3-4 with two outs, Stone-Frisina ended the game with his fourteenth strikeout, securing at least the split for his team.
