JetHawks Home In on Plate in Ninth, 4-3

If you bang on the door long enough, eventually you are bound to knock it down.

The JetHawks, who left runners in scoring position in every inning but the first on Friday night, finally got a two-out hit when Luis Molina’s run-scoring single gave them a 4-3 victory over the Bakersfield Blaze at Sam Lynn Ballpark.

Carlos Villalobos led off the ninth with a double and took third on a sacrifice. After Dusty Wathan lined out and Jason Cook was hit by a pitch, Molina dropped his second hit of the night into center field.

JetHawk relief pitcher Chris Beck (1-0), who got out of serious jams in the seventh and eighth, picked up Lancaster’s second victory in as many nights.

In the seventh, Beck struck out two of the three hitters he faced after Bakersfield had runners at first and second with one out in a 3-3 game.

In the eighth, after Beck created the jam by walking two batters and giving up a hit, he induced a comebacker and started an inning-ending pitcher-to-home-to-first double play.

John Thompson pitched a scoreless ninth to record the save.

The game wouldn’t have even been close had the JetHawks not wasted so many chances. From the second through eighth innings, they left 14 runners on base.

In the fourth, Marcus Sturdivant tried to score from third on a ball that bounced away from Bakersfield catcher Jeff Martin, but Sturdivant was tagged for the third out.

The JetHawks left runners at first and second in the fifth and sixth.

After a leadoff single and a walk in the seventh, Dusty Wathan and Jason Cook struck out and Luis Molina lined out to center field.

In the eighth, Sturdivant singled, was bunted to second and stole third with Jose Cruz up. But Cruz struck out and James Clifford’s ground ball to first base was snagged for the third out.

The only runs the JetHawks could manage early were those the Blaze helped give them with sloppy defense.

In the JetHawks’ second, after James Clifford’s leadoff walk, Carlos Villalobos hit a routine ground ball to shortstop Dave Smith, who threw the ball away. Clifford rounded third and drew a throw home from first baseman Doug Carroll, who threw the ball away, allowing Clifford to score.

Cook singled home Villalobos and Sturdivant drove in Molina, who reached base on an infield hit. It could have been a bigger inning, but Cruz flied out to left for the third out with the bases loaded.

The JetHawks handed the runs back in the bottom of the third. Kyle Towner led off with a soft grounder down the third base line that Villalobos failed to backhand. Towner wound up with a double.

Towner scored on a single and two outs later, the JetHawks allowed another run when Wathan, the catcher, picked up a dribbler and threw high to first base. The Blaze tied the score, 3-3, on Wathan’s passed ball.