The Lightning Win the Four Game Series After a 6-3 Victory

Leesburg, Fla- The pitching staff cruised through a tough Squeeze lineup holding them to just three runs while the offense provided plenty of run support. Two 3-run innings were the difference maker that put the Lightning on top to take the series. 
 
Starting RHP Tanner Walker had no trouble through the first three frames of his outing, as he was able to work around two out base hits in the 1st and 2nd before a 1-2-3 3rd inning. 
 
Walker received his first chunk of run support in the 3rd starting with an RBI single from CF Eli Thurmond. In the next at bat, LF Julian Irizarry would drive in two more with a single for himself, quickly giving the Lightning a 3-0 lead. 
 
Winter Garden would get a run back in the 4th with an RBI double as Walker would eventually be relieved with two runners in scoring position and one out. LHP Riley Fitzgerald came in and got a line out double play to short that ended the inning and left two runners stranded, keeping the score at 3-1. 
 
In the 5th, the Squeeze would chip away at the lead with a solo blast from Isaac Incinelli that shrunk the Lightning lead to 3-2. 
 
Leesburg would put up another crooked number in the bottom of the 5th as C Cole Bullen rifled a single up the middle that plated two more runs. 1B James Strom then singled to bring home Bullen to extend the lead to 6-2.
 
Later in the 8th, Winter Garden added another run from an RBI single that made it 6-3 with one more inning to go. 
 
RHP Jose Paniagua came on for the save but would run into some traffic after giving up a leadoff walk before striking out the next two batters. An error at second base then made it two on and two out with the tying run coming to the plate. The righty would hit the next batter which loaded the bases for the potential go ahead run at the dish. With the bases full of Squeeze, Paniagua blew a fastball right by the last batter putting the game in the win column for the Lightning. 
 
Coach Billings talked about how well the offense can string together hits night in and night out against good pitching staffs
 
“We saw some good arms tonight and our guys battled,” said Billings. “We only had two strikeouts tonight as a team which was awesome, and they just find different ways to score runs. It seems like a lot of the teams that score runs against us, they have to hit a double or a homer, but we’re not doing that, we’re getting 3 or 4 hits in an inning to score a run or multiple runs. It’s nice to see our guys be able to execute.”
 
After almost a week since his last game, Eli Thurmond described how good it feels to be back and how difficult it is to take time off and then be able to make an immediate impact. 
 
“My teammates had my back, they missed me a lot and they made me feel welcome again, so it was nice to get back,” said Thurmond. “I would say the difficult part is maintaining that confidence, keeping the mentality of just going up there and not doing too much.”
 
The Lightning look to make it four straight wins with the Suns coming to town Tuesday June 24. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. at Pat Thomas Stadium. 
 
Vic Maslia (Syracuse University)

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