Pitching pushes ‘Cats to shutout over Spikes

Troy– Hunter Martin made his first professional start a memorable one for the 3,304 fans in attendance Tuesday night at Joe Bruno Stadium on Irish night. The ValleyCats, and Martin, were backed by strong relief performances by Parker Mushinski and Nathan Thompson to help shutout the Spikes 7-0 in the first of a three-game series.

Martin, the recent 20th round pick-601st overall, gave up no runs on only one hit in his four innings of work Tuesday. He added a pair of strikeouts and walks to his line while earning a no decision.

The University of Tennessee product made his first three appearances in his career thus far as a reliever for the ‘Cats, posting a 0-0 record with a 6.23 ERA. “I always expect myself to do well out there, I’m a confident guy,” Martin said post game.

Manager Morgan Ensberg pulled Martin after the 4th inning for what was “a combination of pitch count and finding a way to get Mushinski and Thompson clean innings.”

Tonight’s winner Parker Mushinski came in to relieve Martin in the 5th inning with the ‘Cats up 5-0. He pitched three innings while allowing no runs on two hits while striking out six and walking one. Thompson followed Mushinski as he came on in the 8th inning to try to finish the combined shutout. He finished the night throwing the final two innings allowing no runs on no hits. Thompson also sent down four batters and walked one as he preserved the shutout for the team.

The three pitchers combined to allow just five hits on the night.

The bulk of the offense came during the five run 3rd inning for the ValleyCats. A one out RBI double by Payano and a two out, two run bloop single by Toro-Hernandez gave the ‘Cats a 3-0 lead. The next batter Jake Adams smacked a two run home run, his fourth of the year, to left to extend the ‘Cats lead to 5-0. They would add two more in the 8th by ways of a wild pitch scoring Payano, and a sacrifice fly by Papierski scoring Matijevic to extend the lead to 7-0.

The two teams will meet again in game two of the series on Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.