Barracudas get second win in x-innings

The two Zurich rivals again delivered a classic matchup in front of a decent crowd that saw the Zurich Barracudas take Game 2 10-9 in extra innings.

After the two teams settled for a 9-9 tie after regulation, the Barracudas played smarter and outdueled their opponents in the eighth inning.

Carlos De Los Santos lined an offering from reliever Patrick Zöllig through the middle of the infield for a walkoff game winner.

Just as in the first contest, the Challengers were first to score. Starter Ueli Von Burg's wild pitch enabled Thomas Landis to score the first run of the game in the second inning.

But again, the Barrcudas came back strong and sent eight batters to the plate in the third inning, turning the lead in their favor.

Marc Obussier hit a two-run ground-rule double, and Michael Settle followed with a three-run round tripper for a 5-1 lead.

Coach Anthony Bennett stuck with his starter Zöllig, especially after his team managed to knot the score at 5-5 in the next inning.

Thomas Blank hit a two-run double, and Saentis Zeller had a two-run single off reliever Frank Berchtold to tie the game.

But Zöllig saw only two batters in the bottom of the fourth frame. Pinch-hitter José Tiburcio led off with a double, and Miguel Conde plated him with a single.

Bryan Shemley, last pitching for the Challengers in 1999, took over on the mound, but didn't fare much better as Georgiev Strahil singled and Von Burg scored both Conde and Georgiev with his double to left center field.

That already made the day for Shemley, and Bennett himself took care of business.

He retired the first two batters he faced before hitting Settle in the helmet.

Settle remained on the ground for a few minutes, but fortunately got up and remained in the game.

The Challengers again managed to come back, scoring three times off reliever Settle.

Tobias Siegrist led off the inning with an opposite field ground-rule double, and four batters later, Bennett hit a towering two-run homer over the center field fences to cut the Barracudas' lead to 9-8.

After a scoreless sixth inning, the Challengers' Siegrist again reached in the top of the seventh thanks to an error by left fielder Tiburcio.

After stealing second, Zöllig advanced him to third with a single, and Chris Palatinus' run-scoring double play grounder enabled him to score from third.

The next two batters reached on a hit-by-pitch and yet another error by the Barracudas, but Blank struck out looking to end the threat.

Because Bennett already pitched three innings, Zöllig again took over on the mound, and retired the three Barracudas he faced in order.

The Challengers also went down 1-2-3 in the top of the eighth.

Bennett stuck with Zöllig as his reliever, but he couldn't hold it and De Los Santos' game winner gave Zöllig his first loss of the season.

Game notes
Benitez' strike out in the fifth inning was his 150th of his NLA-career with the Challengers. His stolen base in the third inning was his 150th with the Challengers' organization (4th alltime).