Challengers shut out Cardinals 8-0

The Challengers virtually qualified themselves for the Playoffs by shutting out the reigning Swiss Champions Bern Cardinals 8-0.

Robert Sedin delivered a gem as he struck out 15 batters en route to his fifth win of the season. He only gave up six hits, walked two and hit three batters, and lowered his season ERA to a miniscule 1.42.

Sedin also delivered with his bat, tripling and homering in five at-bats and scoring two times.

Craig Pycock added three RBIs with an RBI-single and a two-run homer, and Jesus Martinez had two doubles off John Baum, giving him a league-leading 13 on the season.

The Cardinals were forced to mix and match with the players they had available, suffering from the aftermaths of winning the European B-Pool Qualifier which gives Switzerland a berth in the A pool for the first time in history.

Baum was ineffective as he lasted only 2 1-3 innings in which he gave up five runs on eight hits.

Ryan Byrne was again summoned to pitch the remainder of the game, which he did in convincing fashion. He struck out 12 Challengers in 6 2-3 innings and allowed only three more runs on four hits.

All of those runs came in the seventh inning when Sedin connected for a solo homer to straightaway center and Pycock came through two batters later with his first shot of the season.

With that win, the Challengers need only one more win out of their remaining three games. Two of them are again against the Cardinals next weekend, and one is against the Zurich Lions who own a 3-20 record.

Game notes
Sedin's 1.42 ERA is only 0.01 points higher than the Challengers' single-season record of 1.41, set by James Sanders in 2010. ...Sedin retired Benji Waite in the top of the fourth to complete 5.000 innings pitched in Challengers history. ...Sedin's strikeout of Hänzi in the fourth inning gave the Challengers pitching staff 212 strikeouts on the season, marking the second-best season mark in franchise history. ...The last time the Cardinals failed to score a run was on June 26, 2010, ironically also against the Challengers. Sanders pitched a 3-0 six-hit shutout against John Baum that day.