Challengers' rally in vain as Barracudas win 7-6 in final at-bat

The Challengers made the second contest a bit more exciting than the first one, but nevertheless had to suffer another setback in a 7-6 defeat against the Zurich Barracudas.

The Challengers rallied from a 6-3 deficit in the final inning, tying the score at 6-6, but the Barracudas scored one in the bottom half of the inning to seal the victory.

Three runs was all the Challengers could manufacture against spot starter Frank Berchtold in the first three innings, getting a sac fly from Tobias Siegrist, an RBI-double from Saentis Zeller and an RBI-single from Anubis Benitez.

On the other hand, the Barracudas roughed up starter Oliver Labhart for five runs on six hits and three walks.

In the third inning, Labhart was relieved by rookie Thomas Burger who already pitched two thirds of an inning in the first contest.

He managed to stop the bleeding as he struck out two of the next four batters.

After allowing one more run in the next inning on a passed ball, and also walking the next three batters, player coach Anthony Bennett came on to relieve.

He shut the door on the Barracudas for the next 2 1-3 innings, but his offense didn't manage to produce, either.

The two teams went into the final inning with the Barracudas leading 6-3.

With closer James Sanders on the mound, the Challengers' chances didn't look very promising.

But after walking leadoff batter Bennett, Sanders retired the next two batters on a strike out and a pop out. But Patrick Zöllig and Siegrist reached on two consecutive errors by the Barracuda infield, loading the bases for Zeller.

He connected for a two-run single, closing the gap to 6-5.

Anubis Benitez then lined a shot to the right field fences, scoring Siegrist with the tying run.

With runners on the corners, substitute Willy Schaub struck out swinging to end the inning.

In the bottom half of the inning, the Cudas put on all three of their batters on two singles and a throwing error by substitute third baseman Thomas Blank.

With the outfield drawn in, Blackmore had the game-winning hit as he lined a single up the middle that easily scored Manuel Hirtz from third base.

Game notes
The Challengers fell to 10-6 on the season, falling to third place in the standings. With four more games to play in the regular season, all the Playoff spots are still up for grabs.